For a baseball player, there’s no better way to celebrate your birthday than hitting a home run.

And that’s exactly how Caleb Ruiz celebrated his 18th birthday on Thursday, going deep in a 23-8 win for the Humboldt Eagles 19U at Klamath Falls.

The Eagles, who are in the middle of a nine-day, 13-game, three-state road trip, racked up 20 hits in the lopsided win and improved to 12-4 on the season.

Ruiz, an outgoing St. Bernard’s senior who will play at College of the Redwoods next year, hit a three-run blast out of the park, and also had a double and a single.

He finished the day with five RBIs.

Another CR player, Gannon Cyphers, also had three hits in win.

On the mound, the ever-reliable Cameron Saso pitched four solid innings for the win.

The 19U team wasn’t the only Humboldt Eagles squad to rack up 20 hits in a big win on Thursday.

The 17Us began play at the Muckdogs Wood Bat Invitational in Reno with a 20-hit team performance in a 17-1 win over the WC Kings.

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Ray Hamill writes at humboldtsports.com, where you can read lots more about sports in Humboldt County.