Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – The McKinleyville girls celebrate their Big 5 championship on Wednesday.

This year’s Big 5 was everything we expected as the race for the championship went down to the final day of action.

In one of the most competitive Big 5s we’ve seen in several years, just three wins separated the top four teams in the final standings, with the McKinleyville Panthers edging Fortuna for the title.

The Panthers came into the final day having already clinched at least a share of the championship, but needed to beat rival Arcata to claim the crown outright on Wednesday.

And the players delivered with a 10-1 victory.

With the win, the Panthers close out conference play 9-3 and are now 14-6 overall.

They also receive a No. 1 seed for next week’s Charles Lakin Tournament, which will take place at the Arcata Sports Complex.

The Tigers closed out conference play 0-12 and are 6-15 overall.

No stats for either team were immediately available. Coaches are encouraged to forward details to Humboldt Sports if they would like to be included in our roundups.

Also in the Big 5 on Wednesday, the Del Norte Warriors secured third place and the conference’s final spot for the Lakin tournament with a 9-7 win over Eureka.

With the win, the Warriors closed out conference play 7-5 and improved to 15-9 overall, while the Loggers dropped to 6-6 and 9-12.

The Loggers led 5-2 going into the bottom of the fourth inning, but the home team would rally with seven late runs, including five in the sixth, on the way to victory.

Eureka senior Bailey Brown had the hot bat for the visitors as she winds an impressive high school career.

Brown finished 3-for-4 with a double and scored two runs.

Macy Secor also impressed for the Loggers, finishing 2-for- 4 with two RBIs and a run, while Violla Kingsang (1-for-4 with two runs), Jayvee Childress (1-for-4 with an RBI and a run) and Tiffany Harris (1-for-4) each also had a base hit for Eureka.

Lola Distefano added a run for the Loggers.

Junior Mackenzie Wolff pitched all six innings for Eureka, giving up seven hits and four walks and striking out seven.

No stats or details are immediately available for the Warriors.

Despite Wednesday’s loss, this year was a remarkable turnaround for a Eureka team that was winless in 2025.

The Loggers will now play the waiting game to see if they are included in the North Coast Section playoffs, with the brackets set to be announced a week from Sunday.