YREKA – The Etna Lions baseball team came into the Gold Nugget baseball tournament with a record of 7-3. All three of their losses were to upper division foe the Central Valley Falcons. So, when the Lions saw the bracket for the tournament, they couldn’t have been thrilled with their first round match up. It was the Falcons.

This time, however, it was the Lions that came out on top 6-5, and advanced to round two in the winners’ bracket. For the Lions, Beau Branson went 2/3, with a double, a run, and two RBI. Trevor Kendrick had two RBI, a run, a double, and was 2/4 at the plate. Greg Monday was 1/2 with a home run. Jordan Pehle-Munson went 1/4, with a double and an RBI.

In round-two, Etna faced Del Norte, which had defeated Yreka in round-one 4-1. Monday led off the game for the Lions with a blast over the left-center field fence. Logan Dysert followed with a single. Clint Johnson laid down a sacrifice bunt, and Dysert moved to second, and then went to third base on a wild pitch. J. Munson reached on an error, and Dysert scored to give Etna a 2-0 lead.

Munson advanced to second on a passed ball. Then, Kendrick ripped a shot down the left-field line for a double, scoring Munson to give Etna three runs for the first inning. Del Norte scored one run in their half of the inning, and it was Etna 3 – Del Norte 1.

In the second inning, after the first two batters struck out, the Lions put two runners on base but were unable to score. Etna starting pitcher Clint Johnson struck out all three Del Norte batters he faced in the second.

Etna put one batter on base via an error in the Third, but was unable to score. Johnson again struck out the side in the bottom half. In fact, he had four “Ks” but one hitter reached on a strike-three passed ball.

Etna added a run in the fourth inning, when Monday singled, stole second base, and scored on a Dysert single. Johnson struck out the first Del Norte batter he faced in the bottom half, to make it nine straight strikeouts. The next batter singled to break the string. The Del Norte runner advanced to second on a ground out, to third on a passed ball, and scored on another passed ball, to make it 4-2 after four innings.

Skyler Schneider, Mike Sanders, and Monday all scored for Etna in the fifth. Johnson recorded two more strikeouts and retired Del Norte in order, to make the Lions’ lead 7-2, after five.

Schneider scored again in the sixth for Etna, and Del Norte notched a couple of runs, to make it 8-4. Johnson fanned three more batters.

Monday doubled and scored on an error in the top of the seventh to give Etna a five run cushion 9-4. Clint Eastlick relieved Johnson and yielded one run to Del Norte, for a 9-5 Etna win and a ticket to the championship.

Monday led the Lion offense, going 5/5, with a home run, two doubles, four runs, two RBI, and a steal. Dysert was 3/3, with a run, an RBI, a walk, and was hit by a pitch. Schneider went 2/4, with a run, an RBI, and a steal. Kendrick was 1/4, with a double, a run, and an RBI.

Johnson went six innings, giving up four runs, five hits, and two walks. He fanned 16. Eastlick pitched one inning, allowed one run, two hits, and two walks. He struck out two.

After losing to Etna, Del Norte dropped down to the losers bracket and fought their way back to play Etna a second time for the Gold Nugget championship. This time things turned out differently.

Monday led off the game for Etna with a single, but the Lions failed to bring him home. In the bottom half of the first, Del Norte had a pair of runners on base, but the threat was erased via a 6-4-3 double play.

Branson led off the second inning with a single, and moved to second base on a Schneider sacrifice bunt. He went to third on a wild pitch and scored on a wild pitch, to give the Lions the lead 1-0.

While Etna took the lead in the top half, Del Norte wound up owning the second inning. Del Norte scored eight runs on five singles, two doubles, a walk, and an error.

The third inning began with Etna getting their lead off batter on base for the third straight inning, when Monday singled. Dysert then grounded into a 4-6-3 double play. At least that was the way that the umpire saw it, despite Dysert beating the throw to first base by a full step. Del Norte added another run in the bottom of the third via a walk, a sacrifice, and a hit, to lead 9-1.

In the fourth inning, with two outs, Schneider walked. The Del Norte pitcher attempted a pick off, but the throw went awry. Schneider, showing his sprinter’s speed, advanced all the way to third base on the error. He then scored on a wild pitch, making the score 9-2.

Del Norte responded by putting the game away with five more runs, on two hits, four walks, and two hit batters, increasing their lead to 14-2.

For the fourth time in five innings, Etna had their lead off batter on base, when Frank Johnson singled. Monday followed up with another base hit, and the Lions had runners on first and second, with a slight glimmer of hope. That glimmer was quickly erased with a strikeout, and a double play, giving Del Norte the championship win 14-2.

For the Lions, Monday went 3/3, with a steal. Branson was 1/2 with a run. Schneider had a walk, a sacrifice, and scored a run. Frank Johnson went 1/1. Taylor Pehle-Munson was the starting and losing pitcher.

Clint Johnson and Jordan Pehle-Munson were named to the All-Tourney team. Monday was selected MVP. In the three games, Monday went 9/10, with two home runs, two doubles, five runs, three RBI, and two steals.

Etna is now 9-4 this season, with all four losses coming to higher division teams. The Lions are next scheduled for action in Mt. Shasta to open Shasta Cascade league play, on Friday, March 21. The first game of the double-header is scheduled for 2:00 pm. Etna and Mount Shasta were SCL co-champions last season at 9-3.