Submitted photo – The Eagles 17Us celebrate their tournament winchampionship on Sunday.

By Ray Hamill — A tournament winning team and a pitcher who threw a no-hitter feature in our weekly awards this week.

It’s been a good summer so far for the Humboldt Eagles 17Us, who appear to be hitting their stride at a good time.

On Sunday, the Eagles clinched the championship of their own tournament with a 9-4 win over the Susanville Renegades.

And that gets them the nod for our Team of the Week.

The championship game win was the seventh straight for manager TJ Brogan and his players, who will carry plenty of momentum into next week’s state playoffs.

“I was really impressed with the players,” Brogan said afterwards. “Again, we kept the errors down and we kept the hits up. They kept that same attitude (all tournament). They never gave up.”

The local American Legion club closed out tournament play with five wins in five games and improved to 14-8 on the summer.

And once again several players stepped up for the team, as has been the case all summer, including Kyle Giacone, who got the win on the mound in the final and struck out 14 Susanville batters.

Giacone also had a pair of base hits in the championship game, including a rally-starting triple in the third inning, as did Bryce Pope and Brayden Bermers, each of whom are also enjoying big summers playing for the team.

After a Saturday doubleheader against The Show out of Redding, the Eagles 17Us will then turn their attention to the Area tournament, which gets under way next week.

The Eagles open tournament play on Wednesday.

For more on their big week, see Eagles 17Us prevail in tourney final …

Humboldt Crabs Baseball – Jackson Kelly

This week’s Athlete of the Week, meanwhile, goes to a local pitcher who enjoyed a week he won’t easily forget.

McKinleyville’s Jackson Kelly pitched a no-hitter for the Humboldt Crabs in a doubleheader sweep over the West Coast Kings on Wednesday night, just when his team needed it the most.

After their recent struggles saw them drop six straight games, Kelly and the Crabs rediscovered their swagger with the two wins on Wednesday night.

And Kelly was the big story of the night with one of the highlight performances of the summer.

“We love Jackson and we’re really excited to have him,” Crabs manager Jeff Giacomini said. “He’s a local kid who grew up a Crabs fan and I think that was just a dream come true for him.”

The 2025 McKinleyville High graduate, who played collegiately at Shoreline Community College in Washington this spring, pitched all seven innings and did not allow a base hit or a walk while striking out 10.

For more on his big week, see Kelly tosses a no-hitter as Crabs get back to winning ways …