YREKA – The Yreka Miners started a little slow in their first round NSCIF D-II baseball playoff game against the West Valley Eagles, last Friday. Yreka gave up three runs in the first two innings, and trailed 3-1 going into the bottom of the third. The Miners, however, exploded for five runs to take a 6-3 lead, and then shut down the Eagles the rest of the way. The Miners added a run in the sixth inning to make the final, 7-3.

Kurt Lorenzini roped a line drive home run to help lead the Miners’ offense. Lorenzini was 3-4 for the game, with two runs, and two RBI. Joe Wilson went 2-3, with a run, an RBI, and two doubles. Clint Amaral was 1-3, with a run and an RBI. Devin Howard doubled, drove in a run, and went 1-3. Andrew Ward dominated the last five innings the game from the hill, and notched the complete game win (7IP, 3R, 2ER, 4H, BB, 11K).

Yreka head coach Jason Freitas was pleased with his squad’s overall performance, and excited about the hitting of a couple of his players in particular.

“Lorenzini is on fire. He hit a rocket home run, and went 3-4. And, Joe Wilson is beginning to hit well,” said Freitas.

For the second year in a row, the Miners won the Northern Athletic League crown. For the second year in a row, they’ve won their first round playoff game. For the second year in a row, they will face the Sutter Huskies in the semi-finals. Last year, the Huskies beat the Miners in Yreka, 9-7, in nine innings. Sutter went on to win the section title. This time the third-seeded Miners (14-14) will travel to second seeded Sutter (24-5), on Tuesday, May 13.