By Brie Phillips
Last weekend’s Gold Nugget Baseball tournament was hosted by the Yreka Miners. The top finishing local team was Yreka in fourth place. Etna came in sixth place and Mt. Shasta in eighth. Miner Kurt Lorenzini received All-Tourney honors, as well as Trevor Kendrick from Etna, and Colin Waterman from Mt. Shasta. The championship game between Central Valley and Klamath Union was delayed Saturday due to rainy weather. The game is set to be played on a later date.
Yreka coach Jason Freitas shared his thoughts on the tournament.
“I feel that as a baseball team we could have played a lot better. We seem to have one really bad inning and we are not able to rebound from it. I felt that the tournament went great except for not getting the championship game in. Having two teams from Oregon, one from the coast, and one from Oroville really gave the tournament some quality teams,” said Freitas. “I think the tournament took a huge step up from last year, and hopefully it keeps getting better.”

Yreka lost to Del Norte 3-8 on Saturday. The game was interrupted by some rainy weather causing the umpires to decide on a short rain delay.
Joe Wilson led Yreka in hitting, going 2/3 with a double and one steal. Kurt Lorenzini went 1/2 with one run, two steals, and was hit by a pitch. Zach Salvestro went 1/3 and had one RBI. Clint Amaral had one run, one walk, one steal and was hit by a pitch. Kyle Casson went 1/2. Amaral took the loss, pitching 1 2/3 inning. He gave up four earned runs, three hits, two walks and had three strikeouts. Kevin McCanna pitched 3 1/3 innings. He allowed four earned runs, five hits, one walk and had three strikeouts. The game ended early in the fifth inning due to the rain.
On Friday, Yreka was defeated by Klamath Union 2-12. Lorenzini led Yreka at the plate going 2/3. Devin Howard went 1/2 with one run. Salvestro had one run and one walk. Wilson took the loss, pitching 3 2/3 innings. He gave up three earned runs, two hits, and three walks. Dave Ellison pitched 1 1/3, allowing six earned runs, five hits, and one walk. Nate Lindley pitched two innings, giving up one run, two hits, a walk and had two strikeouts.
Yreka won a slugfest against Mt. Shasta on Thursday, 17-12. Andrew Ward led Yreka in batting going 3/4 with a double. He had one run, three RBIs, and a stolen base. Howard went 2/3 with two runs, two RBIs, a walk, a double and a home run. Amaral went 2/3 with a double, a walk, three runs and a one steal. Salvestro went 2/4 with three runs, three RBIs, one walk and one steal. Lorenzini went 2/4 with three runs, two RBIs, one walk, one stolen base and a home run. Wilson went 2/4 with two RBIs and a walk. Amaral was the winning pitcher, going three innings allowing three earned runs, four hits, and hadthree strikeouts. Starting pitcher Salvestro pitched one inning giving up three earned runs, four hits, two walks, and had two strikeouts. Kevin McCanna pitched three innings, allowing two earned runs, three hits, two walks and had two strikeouts.
The Mt. Shasta Bears were led by Andrew Campbell in hitting going 2/4. He had two runs, two RBIs and one stolen base. Brad Thomas went 1/4 with two runs, an RBI, one steal, and a homerun. Ben Sampson went 2/4 with two RBIs. Colin Waterman went 1/2 with three runs and two walks. Zack Morris went 2/5 with two runs. Brad Thomas pitched four innings giving up seven earned runs, seven hits, two walks and had three strikeouts.
The Etna Lions took a loss to Phoenix 4-7 on Saturday. Seth Jordan went 2/4 with a run. Trevor Kendrick went 2/4 and Jordan Pehle-Munson went 1/3 with a run and a RBI. Ben Besoain went 1/2 with a walk and a stolen base. Taylor Pehle-Munson took the loss on the mound, pitching three innings. He allowed three earned runs, three hits, one walk, had five strikeouts and hit a batter. Eric Freckman pitched four innings giving up two earned runs, three hits and had one strikeout.
On Friday, Etna defeated Mt. Shasta 13-1. Kendrick led the Lions at the plate going 3/3 with two runs, one RBI and was hit by a pitch. Robbie Munson went 2/4 with two runs and one RBI. Jordan went 2/4 with one run and one RBI. Jon Erickson went 2/2 with two runs. Hank Johnson went 2/4 with two runs, and Taylor Pehle-Munson went 2/4. Johnson was the winning pitcher, going four innings and allowing one earned run, two hits, a walk, and had 5 strikeouts. Kenny Muelrath pitched one inning giving up no hits, runs, or walks.
Waterman went 2/2 for Mt. Shasta with an RBI. Campbell went 1/2 with a run. Miguel Rodriguez took the loss on the mound.
Etna lost to Klamath Union 3-17 on Thursday. Kendrick went 1/3 with a double, one run, and one RBI. Taylor Pehle-Munson went 1/3 with one run and one RBI. Jordan Pehle-Munson went 1/3 with one run. Clint Eastlick was the losing pitcher.
Mt. Shasta played their final game against Las Plumas losing 9-13, on Saturday. Trent Hough and Waterman shared the lead in hitting for the Bears. Both went 3/4 with three runs, one RBI and one walk. Campbell went 2/4 with two runs and two RBIs. Sampson went 1/2 with two RBIs.
SiskiyouYouth contributor Brie Phillips is a senior at Yreka High School and covered the Yreka Gold Nugget Tournament as part of her senior project.

YREKA – The Yreka Miners started off their Northern Athletic League season with an 8-1 victory against the Central Valley Falcons last Thursday. Brandon Larreau won 6-0, 6-0 in singles, while doubles partners Tyler Moser and Brian Carter blanked their opponents 8-0.

When asked about his feelings towards his team, Coach Freudenburg had nothing but good things to say.

“I feel great. I like being with them. They’re fun guys. They love tennis, I love tennis. They’re a strong team.”

The Miners travel to Corning on Tuesday, March 17.

Full Results
Singles
1. Ross Perry: 6-1, 6-2
2. Dylan Pflueger: 6-0, 6-2
3. Cody Brooks: 6-1, 6-0
4. Tyler Moser: 2-6, 6-4, tiebreak 2-10
5. Brandon Larreau: 6-0, 6-0
6. Brian Carter: 6-3, 6-1

Doubles
1. Perry/Pflueger: 8-1
1. Brooks/Larreau: 8-4
1. Moser/Carter: 8-0

YREKA – West Valley (9-0, 32-8) simply doesn’t lose in Northern Athletic League play. And although the young Yreka Lady Miners varsity team didn’t defeat the powerful Eagles, they did make them sweat in the first two very competitive games of the match.

Perhaps it was senior night that inspired the Lady Miners, or maybe it was the idea that it was their last home game of the season. Whatever the reason, Yreka (1-8, 3-17-1) played one of its best matches of the season.

Yreka jumped out to a 5-1 lead in game-one, behind a pair of thundering kills by senior Carrie Watson. The Eagles narrowed it to 7-6, but a kill and an ace by Mallory Greenfield pushed the lead back to three points at 9-6. Yreka extended its lead to seven points, 16-9, on a pair of aces by Jessany Munoz. The Eagles, however, battled back to tie the game at 19-19. A kill by Kayla Wisler temporarily regained the lead for Yreka at 20-19. But, West Valley scored the next six points to take the game 25-20.

The Miners also started well in game-two, going up 5-4 on a Katie Todd kill. The squads traded leads until West Valley went up for good at 11-10. Trailing 23-17, the Miners made a run starting with a couple of Watson kills, making it 23-19. A kill by K. Todd and an ace by Munoz cut the margin to 23-21, but that was as close as it got. The Eagles went on to win 25-21.

Game-three was a fly by for the Eagles, as West Valley dominated 25-9, winning the match 3-0.

Carrie Watson went off in the match with 13 kills and eight blocks. Greenfield recorded six kills and three aces. Munoz notched three aces, and a kill. Todd had three kills. Whitney Ebejer had four blocks.

Junior Varsity

The Yreka JV squad came out hitting on all cylinders, going up 6-2 over West Valley early in game-one. The Eagles tied the score at 9-9, and took the lead 10-9. The Lady Miners came back to regain the lead at 14-12, only to see West Valley go back up 19-16. Trailing 19-17, the JV Lady Miners fought back to tie the score at 19-19, on a kill by Karlee Andrighetto, and a block by MacKenzie Allen. West Valley outscored Yreka 6-1 the rest of the way for a 25-20 win.

The Eagles cruised to a 25-13 win in game two, for a 2-0 match win.

Frosh

After trailing big early, the Yreka frosh squad came back to tie game-one 18-18, before West Valley went on to win 25-20. The Eagles also took game-two 25-14, and the match 2-0.

Jr. Pee Wees
The Yreka Chargers Jr. Pee Wee football team lost a very close home game on Saturday, August 30 to the Foothill Jr. Cougars. During the second half; the fired up, hard hitting Charger defense of Charles Lopez, Jeremy Persing, Caden Corbin, Tyraye Bush and Dalton Lester, prevented the Jr. Cougars from scoring. The Charger defensive line of Payton Charlesworth, Dylan Quigley, Robert Giannini, and Hayz Lantz had some great gang tackles and one particularly impressive sack on the Jr. Cougars offense.

On the offensive side, Charger QB Tadd Weed completed two great passes to Lopez and Persing. Lane Clark made a great run scoring a touchdown for the Chargers. Clark , Weed and Virusur Lantz ran the ball well, but unfortunately the Cougar defense kept them just short of finding the end zone again.

Head Coach Ron Quigley was very proud of the way his boys played against the Jr. Cougars. Quigley stated that it was a great game and that the boys all played extremely well against a tough upper division team.

Pee Wees
The Charger Pee Wees gave their best effort against the top-rated, mighty Jr. Cougars on Saturday at Miner Field. Tyler Hockaday was a standout on both sides of the ball with his quick skills on offense and his powerful, fumble-causing tackles on defense. Also, bringing the heat to the Charger Pee Wee defense was the always tough, Keith Belcher, with several bone-crushing tackles of his own. Other leaders on defense were Marquis Pitts, Stevie Albers, Cooper Bruhns and Thomas Colla.

On offense, with the help of his offensive line, Devin Wells led the way for Charger scores with his outstanding blocking. QB Ryan Bridenstine opened up the field with two completed passes to Blake Batchelor and Josh Hansen. Drew Robles continued to amaze the crowd with his ability to score almost every time he seems to touch the ball. His favorite play of his career?  His first defensive touchdown against the Foothill Jr. Cougars.

“Overall, the kids came to play and they played well. Win or lose, they should hold their heads high. It was a great team effort,” said Coach Neil Bridenstine. The final score was Foothill 27 – Chargers 24

Midgets
The Charger Midgets lost a hard fought battle to a tough, physical Foothill Jr. Cougars team, 32-8. Yreka played the Jr. Cougars to an 8-8 tie in the first half, with Tyler Weale connecting with Derrick McKeown for the Chargers lone score.

Foothill began the second half with a long, time consuming drive using nearly eight minutes of the third quarter. The Chargers tried to make a comeback, but Foothill’s size and depth ultimately proved too much to overcome. Jonny Braeger and Nick Phillips played well defensively, with each providing some hard hits and several tackles.