Softball Game Preview: Fortuna Huskies vs. McKinleyville Panthers

The Fortuna Huskies will head out on the road to square off against the McKinleyville Panthers at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. Fortuna is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 9.9 runs per game this season.

Fortuna came out on top against Eureka on Wednesday thanks in part to the team's impressive six-run fifth inning. The Huskies walked away with a 10-6 victory over the Loggers. The Huskies haven't had any issues with the Loggers recently, as the game was their fourth consecutive win against them.

Isabel Sanchez made a splash no matter where she played. She struck out 12 batters over six innings while giving up just two earned runs off four hits. That's the most strikeouts she has posted since back in May of 2024. She was also big at the plate, getting on base in four of her five plate appearances with one stolen base, one run, and one double.

Olivia Hayes

Runs Batted In (Career)

04/23/25 @ Eureka	3
04/05/25 vs Eureka	2
03/25/25 @ Eureka	1
03/15/25 @ Point Arena	1
05/21/24 @ St. Helena	1

In other batting news, Fortuna let Mariah Bravo and Olivia Hayes run wild. Bravo got on base in four of her five plate appearances with one stolen base, two RBI, and one double, while Hayes went 2-for-4 with three RBI and two runs. Those three RBI gave Hayes a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Sephora Machado, who went 1-for-3 with two runs and one RBI.

Meanwhile, it was a proper cat-fight when McKinleyville took on Arcata on Saturday. The Panthers never let the Tigers get on the board and left with a 12-0 victory. The result was nothing new for the Panthers, who have now won six contests by six runs or more so far this season.

Fortuna's win was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 14-2. The road victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.7 runs on average over those games. As for McKinleyville, the win got them back to even at 8-8.

Everything went Fortuna's way against McKinleyville in their previous meeting two weeks ago, as Fortuna made off with an 11-1 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Huskies since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.