Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Brayden Bermers in action for the Eagles this weekend.
Pitching stole the show for some of the local teams competing at the annual Northern Humboldt Giants tournament over the weekend.
The eight-team, three-day America Legion tournament took place at Arcata High School and was won by the Lohse baseball Academy, which defeated Sutter 10-0 in Sunday’s championship game.
The Humboldt Eagles had the best showing of the flour local teams in action, finishing 2-1, while the Giants, Wild Cactus and Southern Humboldt 76ers each went 1-2.
The Eagles opened with a 9-0 loss to a strong Lohse team, but would respond with back-to-back victories over the South Coast Kraken out of Coos Bay (10-0) and the Wild Cactus (10-0).
Kyle Giacone (2-for-3 with a double and a walk) and Lucas Ask (1-for-1 with a double) led the way at the plate in their tournament opener, while eighth-grader Ty Wade had an impressive outing on the mound, pitching the final 2.1 innings and holding the experienced Lohse bats scoreless while striking out two.
Giacone and Tyson Marshall would combine to pitch a no-hitter against the Kraken on Saturday.
Giacone pitched 6.1 scoreless innings, giving up just four walks and striking out 13 before being pulled because of his pitch count.
Tyson Marshall threw the final 0.2 innings to preserve the no-hitter and struck out one.
“It was another elite performance out of Kyle,” Eagles head coach TJ Brogan said.
Ask, who hit successfully in all three of the Eagles tournament games, continued his impressive weekend with another productive day at the plate on Saturday, finishing 2-for-3 with a two-run double and a walk, while Bryce Pope (2-for-4 with an RBI) and Tyson Marshall (2-for-4 with an RBI) each also had multiple hits in the win.
Giacone helped his own cause by going 1-for-3 with two walks and an RBI.
The Eagles continued to impress on the mound in their final tournament game against the Wild Cactus on Sunday, with Brayden Bemers and Abel Estes combining to throw a two-hitter.
Making his second start of the weekend, Bermers threw three scoreless innings giving up two hits and two walks and striking out five, before the impressive Estes threw three scoreless and hitless innings, allowing two walks and striking out one.
Scotty Brogan had the hot bat in that win, finishing 2-for-2 with a double, four RBIs and two walks, while Pope finished with multiple hits for the second straight game and was 2-for-3.
Giacone (1-for-2 with a walk and three runs), Ask (1-for-2 with two walks) and Bermers (1-for-3 with an RBI-double) each also hit successfully in Sunday’s win.
“I was proud of the guys, I think we did well,” said TJ Brogan, whose team improved to 5-3. “The bats came alive after the first day. Again pitching is what secured the games, and they held their own in that first game. The guys fought hard, we just came up short and that’s the game sometimes.”
The Giants, meanwhile, opened with a 5-0 win over the Kraken, before losing to Lohse (14-3) and The Show out of Redding (11-1).
But all three starting pitchers — Ben Shrewsberry, Rylan Kees and Gavin Anderson — all had good outings against some quality opponents.
The three starters accounted for all but four outs all weekend.
“Our starting pitching this weekend was absolutely phenomenal,” Giants head coach Brandon Coborn said. “They were dominant and we got to see to some great out-of-town teams.”
Shrewsberry, according to his coach, “set the tone for our other two pitchers.”
The Del Norte Warrior threw a complete-game shoutout against the Kraken, giving up just one hit and one walk and striking out 10.
It was a good week for Shrewsberry, who had his best performance of the summer a few days earlier and carried that form into Friday’s start.
Kees also impressed against a quality Lohse lineup on Saturday, giving up seven hits and eight walks and striking out seven.
“He kept us in the game,” said Coborn, whose team trailed 7-3 when Kees left the game. “He gave us a chance to compete and be in the ball game.”
Anderson rounded out an impressive weekend for the staff on Sunday, pitching 6.1 innings and allowing five hits and three walks against another strong lineup while striking out six.
“Our starting pitching all weekend gave us a chance to win ball games,” Coborn said. “Lohse and The Show, they’re good programs, and it was actually really good for us as a young group. We learned a lot from it.”
Another Del Norte player led the way for the Giants at the plate.
Jerry Griffin, who is coming off his sophomore season playing for the Crescent City school, has taken his game to a different level this summer.
Griffin finished 3-for-6 over the three games with a home run, a double, two RBIs and three runs.
“He’s really developing at the plate,” Coborn said of Griffin, who has moved into the three spot in the lineup. “He kind of caught on at the end of the high school season and he’s carried that over into the summer season. He’s really coming along and we’re excited to have him.”
Carson Hicks also impressed at the plate for the tournament hosts and was 3-for-6 over the three games, while Shrewsberry was 2-for-6 with a double and an RBI in two weekend games.
The Giants are now 5-3-2.
The Wild Cactus, meanwhile, also went 1-2 in tournament action, with a 12-2 win over the 76ers on Saturday sandwiched between losses to The Show (6-1) and the Eagles (10-0).
According to head coach Zack Smith, Saturday’s win was secured with “aggressive offense, patient hitting and relentless pressure on the bases.”
On the mound, Braylon Johnson helped set the tone with a dominant performance over the first four innings, allowing just two runs on three hits while striking out three and walking two.
Brylon Smith shut the door in relief with a scoreless inning.
The team bats accounted for 10 base hits and “showcased a balanced attack throughout the lineup,” the coach added.
Johnson led the way with three RBIs, while Henry Hinrichs, Jarren Biondini, and Mason Long each had two hits.
Discipline at the plate also played a major role, with the team drawing 10 walks, including two each by Teyler Bailey, Ty Kelley and Dakota Bestul.
The Cactus players also had a remarkable 18 stolen bases and 10 walks, while playing errorless ball on defense.
Tyson Mulder added an RBI walk, while Brody Gaser had a two-run single, both in the opening inning.
“Very proud of these kids. They don’t like the taste of losing,” Zack Smith said. “The kids put themselves in position to be successful and it showed in every part of the game … This was a complete team win. Every kid on the roster played a key role in today’s success, and that’s what makes this group special.”
No stats were available for the 76ers.
