File photo – Ben Shrewsberry

It’s been a busy few days in American Legion baseball action for the Northern Humboldt Giants, who swept three games this week against local opposition.

The Giants opened with a 10-0 win over the Humboldt Eagles 17Us in five innings and followed that with a doubleheader sweep over the Wild Cactus, beating their 15Us 14-2 and their 17Us 8-0.

With the three wins, the Giants improved to 9-3-2 on the summer.

“We had all three facets of the game working for us — pitching, defense and timely hitting,” Giants manager Brandon Coborn said. “It has been through our hard this summer that our group has been able to develop and start putting it all together.”

A pair of Del Norte Warriors led the way against the Eagles.

Jerry Griffin continued his impressive summer at the plate and finished 2-for-2 with an RBI and three runs scored, while pitcher Ben Shrewsberry threw his second complete-game shutout of the summer, allowing just three hits and one walk and striking out nine.

“Ben Shrewsberry was again dominant on the hill,” Coborn said of the recent Del Norte graduate. “He has been getting stronger on the mound with each one of his outings and is looking to finish his season out strong.”

Bowdy Hicks also impressed in the win and was 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs, while his brother Carson Hicks also made some noise in the win and was 1-for-4 with an RBI.

A pair of South Fork players also had a good game for the Giants in their first games of the summer with the team.

Ryan Tosten was 1-for-2 with an RBI and Tyson Mulder was 1-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored.

Rylan Kees (1-for-3 with a run) and Gavin Anderson (1-for-3 with an RBI) each also had a base hit in the win.

No stats were immediately available for the Eagles.

Giants assistant coach and former Arcata Tiger Vincent Agliolo managed the team for the 15U game against the Wild Cactus and got his first managerial win.

“The plan coming into the summer was not only developing our players, but also our young coaches,” Coborn said. “Vincent has been doing an excellent job as a young 21-year-old coach, growing in his base coaching skills and conducting our plate meetings, and (he) has worked hard to get that opportunity to manage a game.

“Vincent is one of the best up-and-coming young coaches in our area.”

Carson Hicks got the start on the mound and threw three innings for the win, with Sonny White pitching the final two innings to help see his team over the finish line.

Zach Platt and Brycen Phillips each recorded their first base hits of the summer in the win.

No stats were immediately available for the Wild Cactus players.

Anderson got the start on the hill for the 17U game against the Wild Cactus and the impressive Arcata High pitcher gave up just one hit in six innings.

“Gavin turned in his best outing of the summer,” Coborn said of the efficient Tigers standout who walked three and struck out five and threw just 60 pitches in the six innings. “He attacked the zone, was competitive with his pitches, worked at a strong pace and let his defense work.”

Kees threw the final inning in relief and continued to impress, walking one and striking out three.

Tosten (1-for-3) added his second base hit of the day in that win, while driving in two runs and scoring another.

Carson Hicks (1-for-1 with a double two RBIs and a run), Kees (1-for-3 with a run), Griffin (1-for-2 with a double and a run) and Bowdy Hicks (1-for-2 with a run) each also had a base hit for the Giants.

In addition to his first base hit of the summer, Mulder impressed his coach in other ways too after joining the Giants this week.

“Mulder has provided us the much-needed stability to the catching position and managed the staff well over the two days,” Coborn said. “We are excited and happy to have the two Cubbies in our program.”