Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com

The McKinleyville New Wave Realty Senior League players achieved two postseason goals this week.

One, they got to play at the Arcata Ball Park, and two, they took home another championship.

On Monday night, the New Wave players capped a big three days in postseason play by defeating the Eel River Batsmen 9-3 in the District championship game.

The TOC championship is the fourth straight for McKinleyville, with this group of players also winning a year ago.

And it was an occasion the players relished.

“As soon as the (tournament) meeting got over and we knew the championship game was being played at the Crabs field, that was our goal,” team head coach Jaime Arredondo said. “Our goal was to make it to the championship game so we could play there.”

The players delivered with two big performances in the tournament quarterfinals and semifinals over the weekend.

The tournament’s No. 2 seeds got the better of the Redwood Empire Angels 14-4 in their opening game, and followed that with an 11-3 win over McKinleyville’s Evan’s Mechanical in the semifinal.

They outscored their three tournament opponents 34-10 on the way to the championship.

And they did it with some timely hitting and some dominating pitching and defense.

“Our pitching was definitely what kept us in the games,” Arredondo said. “Our top four guys all stepped up.”

Colton Hawkes dominated on the hill in a complete-game performance against Evan’s Mechanical and then stepped up behind the plate in the championship game.

Submitted photo – The New Wave Realty players and coaches celebrate their championship at the Arcata Ball Park on Monday night.

“Colton threw a gem,” Arredondo said of the semifinal. “And he was our catcher (on Monday). He’s our workhorse.”

Breyden Brock took the mound for the tournament decider and continued to showcase the team’s excellent pitching with a big five innings.

“He was a huge factor and changed the game,” Arredondo said.

Brock gave up just one run on two hits on his way to the win.

But when he left the game with two innings remaining, the coaches had to make a tough decision.

“We were out of pitching,” Arredondo said. “We had our ace for the game and that was it, so we had to make some decisions.”

The coaches opted to send Layne McCullough to the hill, and the youngster delivered with a composed performance to help see his team over the finish line.

And his defense backed him.

So too did the offense, which took advantage of several walks to get on base.

“As a team we drew a ton of walks,” the head coach said. “We were super composed at the plate. Our kids did a good job.”

Among the other highlights, Blake Carper came up with some key hits and “had the hot bat for sure,” according to Arredondo, while pinch hitter Brooks Davis was one of the heroes on the night, kickstarting a late rally with a big two-out base hit to help reestablish the momentum.

“He got one at-bat and he took advantage,” Arredondo said.

On the other side of the ball, middle infielders Teoh Arredondo at shortstop and Hawkes at second base were as reliable as ever and continued to set the tone on defense.

The young Arredondo made a play on every ball hit his way and both young infielders appear to have a very bright future in the game.

Tatum Brock, Zeb Johnson, Callen Ponte, CJ Nichols, Blaine Martin, Tyus Scofield and Aidan Irving rounded out the championship roster and all of them made their presence felt over the three days.

“It certainly was a team win,” the head coach added.

Kirby Hawkes and Dusty McCullough were assistant coaches with the team, while Enzo Arredondo was the team’s bat boy.