Submitted photos – Rylan Kees

Rylan Kees improved to 3-0 on the summer as the Northern Humboldt Giants split a doubleheader in American Legion baseball on Sunday.

The Giants traveled south to Scotia to play the Southern Humboldt 76ers and Willits, taking game one against their in-county rivals 19-7 in five innings and then suffering their first loss of the summer to the Mendocino County team, 6-1.

Kees, who is coming off an impressive freshman season playing at Arcata High, continued to showcase his talents on the mound against the 76ers.

The Giants pitcher threw 3.2 scoreless innings in relief for the win, giving up two hits and striking out three.

“Rylan Kees was efficient again on Sunday and mechanically sound,” Giants manager Brandon Coborn said. “He has been impressive for us out of the bullpen these last two weeks after his opening-day start.”

The young pitcher got plenty of offensive support, as the Giants scored a season-high in runs.

Bowdy Hicks had a big game at the plate and finished 4-for-4 with a triple, two RBIs and two runs, while his brother Carson Hicks also impressed and finished 2-for-5 with an RBI and two runs.

Jerry Griffin (2-for-4 with a triple, a walk, four RBIs and two runs), Ben Shrewsberry (2-for-3 with a walk, two RBIs and three runs) and Kees (2-for-5 with a double, an RBI and two runs) each also had a good game at the plate.

“We swung the bats well in game one,” Coborn said. “It’s exciting to see our offense continue to develop and evolve as the summer season has been progressing.”

Game two was a different story, as a more experienced Willits team held the Giants to their lowest run total of the young season.

“In game two we competed with an older Willits team,” the Giants manager said. “Their starter is a Mendocino College pitcher and it was great for our guys to see that level of pitching.”

Bowdy Hicks closed out a big day at the plate by going 2-for-3 and finished the day 6-for-7.

Submitted photo – Carson Hicks in action for the Giants on Sunday.

Hoopa’s Sonny White also had a good game on both sides of the ball, finishing 1-for-2 with an RBI and making his presence felt at third base.

“Sonny has been making some good defensive plays,” Coborn said. “He is improving every time out.”

Kees and Hatcher Matson each finished 1-for-3.

“We competed,” Coborn said. “We didn’t give in and showed a lot of fight. It was our first doubleheader and the warmth got to us a little bit. However, it prepared us for our road trip the next two days.”

Gavin Anderson got the start on the hill and threw two innings for the loss, allowing one earned run on two hits and two walks.

Carson Hicks threw two innings of one-hit ball in relief, allowing three walks and striking out three, with Griffin and White both also pitching in relief.

Griffin struck out five in 2.2 innings.

Next up, the Giants will play a doubleheader against the Chico Aces at Butte College on Tuesday.

No stats from Sunday’s games were available for the 76ers.