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The Ferndale Wildcats withstood a late rally by the Cubs on the way to closing out conference play with a 14-13 win in Miranda on Thursday afternoon.

After scoring eight runs in the top of the sixth inning to overturn a one-run deficit, the Cats gave up six runs in the bottom of the seventh to make for an exciting finish.

The potential game-tying run was tagged out at home plate by Ferndale catcher Tanner Pidgeon for the final out of the game.

With the win, the Cats closed out conference play 8-4 and improved to 16-4 overall, while the Cubs finished up 3-9 and are now 7-16 overall.

Both teams will advance to next week’s Charles Lakin Tournament, which gets under way at the Arcata Ball Park on Tuesday.

As you would expect from such a high-scoring game, several players enjoyed good days at the plate for both teams, with the two conference rivals combining for five home runs.

Luke Dixon led the way for the visitors and finished 3-for-4 with a home run, two doubles, four RBIs and three runs, while Pidgeon finished 2-for-4 and scored a pair of runs.

Brenden Toller also hit a three-run home run for the visitors, as did Prescott Langer, who had three RBIs.

It was senior day for the Cubs and a pair of seniors played key roles for the team.

Travis “T-Bone” Way finished 3-for-4 with am RBI, a walk and a run, while Shawn Schmidt was 2-for-3 with a home run, a double, three RBIs ad two runs.

According to the South Fork coaches, both Way and Schmidt “played great on senior day,” with the latter turning in one of his best ever games in a Cubs uniform.

Way also pitched five good innings, with Sheyne Casey and Schmidt each throwing one inning in relief.

Schmidt held the Cats scoreless in his inning and struck out two.

Westin Ayala (three innings), Cade Renner (two innings) and Tristen Titus (two innings) all saw time on the mound for the visitors, with the latter getting the win in relief.

Cash Mobley (1-for-3 wit a run), Colton Renner (1-for-4 with an RBI and a run), Zach Bradfield (1-for-1), Ayala (1-fort-2 with a run), Cade Renner (1-for-3 with a run) and Preston Killingsworth (1-for-3 with a double and three RBIs) each also had a base hit in the win.

Killingsworth also made one of the defensive plays of the game in the outfield, robbing the Cubs of another home run with a big catch at the fence in the final inning.

However, the Cats started the game sluggish.

“I need to do a better job motivating our players if we plan on moving forward in the season,” Ferndale head coach Justin Andersen said. “I think we came out flat.”

Mason Bell also had a big day at the plate for the home team, finishing 4-for-5 with a double, an RBI and three runs, while Tyson Mulder was 3-for-5 with a double, a run and an RBI and Cody Wheeler was 2-for-4 with a walk and two runs.

Dorje Johnston (1-for-5) also had a home run in the loss, while Kael Puno (1-for-4 with a double and a run) and Sheyne Casey (1-for-4 with a run) rounded out a 17-hit team performance.

The Wildcats, however, did just enough to take the win and complete a four-game conference sweep of the Cubs.

“The main thing is we had a nail-biter and came through it,” Andersen said. “But from here on out the quality of our opponents drastically improves and we need to drastically improve our play.”