Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com

Here we go again.

For the third straight year, McKinleyville and Eureka will face off for the Charles Lakin baseball tournament championship at the Arcata Ball Park on Friday night.

Both schools successfully navigated their semifinals on Thursday, with the Panthers beating Del Norte 5-1 and the Loggers posting a second straight tournament shutout with an 8-0 win over St. Bernard’s.

“We’re excited to be in the championship game,” McKinleyville head coach Mike Dobrec said. “I’m sure it’s going to be another good game with Eureka. There’s some history there.”

The Panthers will be looking to make it three straight Lakin tournament championships after getting the better of Eureka in each of the last two finals, but they’ll likely have their hands full going up against a team that pushed them all the way in the race for this year’s Big 5 title.

However, if the McKinleyville boys continue to play the way they did on Thursday, there’s every reason to expect them to win again under the lights on Friday night.

Juniors Hunter Carper and Joe Tanno played key roles in the semifinal win.

Carper hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning with a blast that bounced off the top of the outfield fence and gave the Panthers a lead they would not relinquish.

It was his team-leading sixth home run of the year.

Tanno got the win on the mound, improving to 6-0 on the season, with the McKinleyville defense backing him all the way, including senior right fielder Blake Santos, who made an outstanding diving catch early in the game to help set the tone on that side of the ball.

“I thought we played good tonight,” Dobrec said. “Our defense was good, Joe threw well, and overall as a team we played well.”

The Del Norte bats out-hit the Big 5 champs 9-5, but the Panthers made their hits count.

“We just didn’t get that hit when we needed it,” Del Norte head coach Jeff Cook said. “I was happy with our play, but we’ve got to hit the ball when we get runners on base.”

Carper finished 1-for-3 with the home run, while teammate Jake Brunner also was 1-for-3 with two RBIs and Ruger Baxter had a double.

Santos and Rhythm Green each also finished 1-for-3 for McKinleyville, while Tanno helped his own cause with an RBI.

But it wasn’t just the hits that helped pave the way to victory.

Tate Saso, Bode Reininger and Pat Wilson each walked twice on what was patient day at the plate for the Panthers.

“Hunter’s hit was huge, and we had a lot of good ABs,” Dobrec said. “The guys went deep into the count, and when we got our hits we had kids on.”

Tanno gave up nine hits and struck out one in a complete-game performance.

Kanyon Starkey and Jerimiah Griffin each finished 2-for-3 for the Warriors, while Damian Escalera, Charlie Martell and Jaxon Sharp each finished 1-for-3.

Dane Brown and Marco Gonzalez each both finished 1-for-4 to round out a nine-hit team performance.

Ben Shrewsberry pitched a complete game for Del Norte, holding a dangerous and deep Mack lineup to just the five hits and striking out five.

The Warriors, who dropped to 13-13 on the season, will now turn their attention to next week’s North Coast Section playoffs, with the seeds and brackets set to be announced on Sunday.

With the win, McKinleyville improved to 22-2.

Friday’s night championship game gets under way at 7 p.m.