Maxwell to host Div. 5 title game

Staff Reports
There are several signs that the school year is near the end in Maxwell. The school hosts the annual rodeo, the baseball players dye their hair bright yellow and the Panthers advance to the Northern Section championship game.

Maxwell reached the section finals for the sixth straight year after beating Burney 5-2 on Tuesday in a Division 5 semifinal. Maxwell has won four section titles in five years and lost in the section championship game to Dunsmuir the other year. The Panthers won the Division 6 crown last year, but moved up to the Division 5 level this season.

Maxwell will play Fall River, which defeated Tulelake in the other semifinal game 8-7, on Saturday at 4 p.m. Maxwell defeated Fall River twice this year.

Against Burney, the Panthers got a strong mound effort from the duo of Hunter Stillwell and Steven Perry. Stillwell went the first four innings to get the win. He gave up two runs on two hits with three strikeouts and no walks. Perry entered the game in the fifth inning and faced just nine batters to earn the save. He struck out three in facing the minimum over three innings.

The Panthers scored a single run in the first inning and added two more in the third. After Burney closed the gap to 3-2 in the fourth inning, Maxwell scored single runs in the fifth and sixth to add insurance runs.

Perry opened the scoring when he walked and scored on a wild pitch.

In the second inning, Joe Davis doubled with one out and Jarrett Ottenwalter drove him home with a single. Perry doubled to plate Ottenwalter for a 3-0 lead.

In the fifth frame, Barsotti walked and scored on a Tyler Wells basehit. Perry drove in the final run in the sixth with an RBI single that scored Shane Cabral, who had doubled.

Perry and Davis were both 2-for-3 with Perry and Cabral hitting doubles for the Panthers’ best hits.

Maxwell is 27-3 on the year.

Princeton forfeit win
The Princeton Eagles were scheduled to play Butte Valley in the first round of the Division 6 baseball playoffs on Tuesday, but instead they received a forfeit from the Bulldogs and advanced to the championship game against Redding Christian.

The Eagles and the Lions played on Thursday in Redding. Results were not available at press time.

Of the five teams that were selected for the Divisiont 6 playoffs, Champion, Greenville and Butte Valley all decided not to play. Those decisions allowed Redding Christian and Princeton, the top two seeds, to advance to the championship game.

Softball
Yreka 6, Willows 4
The Willows Honkers made a game of it in the top of the seventh inning, but fell to the host Yreka Miners 6-4 in the first round of the Northern Section Division 4 softball playoffs Tuesday.

Yreka built an early lead with two runs in the first inning and three in the second. Willows countered with a run in the second frame and one in the sixth, but trailed 6-2 heading into its final at-bat.

The Honkers scored two runs in the final inning but were unable to close the gap. The Miners advanced to play Wheatland in the second round.
Michelle Schleef had a double for Willows’ best hit of the game while Danielle Cameron and Lauren Guerra each had two hits.

Meghan Myers took the loss, giving up six runs on seven this with six strikeouts.

The Honkers ends the season at 16-12.

Hamilton 5, Liberty 3
Etna 4, Hamilton 3
The Hamilton High School softball team nearly pulled off the two biggest upsets of the Division 5 softball tournament on Tuesday, beating No.5 seed Liberty 5-3 and then falling in nine innings to fourth-seeded Etna, 4-3.

The Braves entered the playoffs as the No. 12 seed, although the seed was a bit misleading considering that many of Hamilton’s 19 losses came against upper division opponents. The Braves were co-champions of the Mid-Valley League with Esparto and had steadily improved, especially on offense as the season progressed.

The Braves got an outstanding effort from freshman pitcher Emiley Stokes, who struck out 14 Liberty batters and gave up just two hits in the 5-3 win. She also had 12 strikeouts against Etna, giving her 324 strikeouts on the season. She is believed to be the first freshman in Northern Section history with over 300 strikeouts in a season.

Against Liberty, Elyse Anderson led the offense with a pair of hits, both doubles, and two runs scored. Hannah Daley also had two hits while Samantha Keith Murray added a double.

Hamilton grabbed the early lead, scoring one run in the first and two in the third for a 3-1 advantage.

Hamilton added single runs in the fourth and fifth innings to build a 5-1 lead. Liberty countered with two runs in the sixth inning but was unable to catch the Braves.

Hamilton took on host Etna in the second round on Tuesday. The Braves scored three runs in the first inning off of the Shasta Cascade League champions, but were held hitless the scoreless the rest of the way.

Anderson, Dailey and Kodie Zimmerman all scored in the initial frame. Daley, Jenna Price and Keith-Murray each had a basehit in the game for the Braves.

Etna scored two runs in the bottom of the first and a single run in the second to tie the game at 3-3. The Lions then scored in the bottom of the ninth on a throwing error.

The Braves end the season with a 12-20 record.

Maxwell 11, Loyalton 1
The Panthers advanced to the second round of the Northern Section Division 6 playoffs with an 11-1 rout of Loyalton on Tuesday.

The fourth-seeded Panthers played No. 1 seed Hayfork on Tuesday. If the Panthers won, they would advance to play either Champion or Big Valley.

Molly Dennis allowed just one run on four hits while striking out four Grizzly batters. She also was 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles and three RBI on offense.

Kylie Word also had three RBI while Lucinda Wells and Nikole Burg added one double apiece. Wells also went 2-for-3 with two RBI.

Jodi Perry finished with a 2-for-3 effort that included three runs scored. Katrina LaGrande also scored a pair of runs for the Panthers.

Maxwell is 15-8 on the season.

Etna 7, Mercy 0
The Mercy Warriors finished their season with a 7-0 loss to fourth-seeded Etna in the Division 5 playoffs on Tuesday.
The Warriors end the year with a record of 5-9.