Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com

The season begins in earnest this week for the Humboldt Eagles 18Us.

After an exciting season opener against the Crabs two weeks ago, the Eagles players have been mostly idle since then, but will be back in action at the Petaluma tournament this weekend, playing six games in four days.

And manager Scott St. John is expecting some good competition for his players and that they will be up for the challenge.

“It’s going to be a little bit of a test for us,” St. John said. “It’s time to get some games for sure.”

The Eagles, who have a busy few weeks in store, prepared for tournament play with a game against the Southern Humboldt 76ers on Monday and came away with a 10-3 victory.

McKinleyville’s Joe Tanno led the way at the plate and finished 3-for-3 with two RBIs, while Robert Williams of College of the Redwoods finished 2-for-4 and also had two RBIs.

Eureka High’s Garrett Levitt, who will play at CR next spring, also made some noise at the plate and added two RBIs.

Former Ferndale Wildcat Parker Prior got the start on the mound, as St. John utilized multiple arms in order to have everyone available for a busy weekend of tournament play.

Prior threw two innings, giving up one unearned run on three hits and one walk and striking out one.

Tanno, Rhythm Green, Tate Saso and Lyle McKinnon all pitched in relief.

“I thought we played pretty good,” St. John said of his players after their long layoff. “We kind of staffed it up and threw everybody an inning so we would be ready for the tournament.”

The Eagles, who pushed the Crabs closer than any other team through the opening two weeks of their season in a 6-5 loss on June 3, will begin tournament play against the Benicia Wolfpack on Thursday at 2 p.m., before playing San Francisco Legion later in the afternoon.

“I’m looking for us to be competitive,” the Eagles manager said. “We’re looking to get some wins and get some good competitive games under our belt.”

The team’s pitching depth will be challenged over the four days, but St. John and his staff got a boost with the news that Eureka standout Ryder Mitchell will join up with the team in Petaluma.

“This gets our season into full swing,” St. John added.