File photo – The Arcata Tigers swept two games at Fort Bragg on Saturday and have now won five straight.

The Arcata Tigers are enjoying their best start to a season in some time and remained hot on Saturday with a doubleheader sweep at Fort Bragg.

The wins set the Tigers up nicely for this coming week’s Big 5 opener.

In other softball action on Saturday, Fortuna dropped two games in Santa Rosa, losing to Montgomery and Cardinal Newman.

Arcata 5, Fort Bragg 0

Arcata 14, Fort Bragg 4

Makayla Bernald pitched both wins for the Tigers, who are 6-1 on the season and have now won five straight.

The Arcata junior dominated the home team in the opener, striking out seven and walking none in the complete-game shutout.

She got plenty of help from her offense, with Claire Broadman going 3-for-4 and Claire Monge finishing 2-for-3 with a double.

The Tigers opened up a 2-0 lead in the top of the second and never trailed, adding single runs in each of the third, fifth and sixth innings to gradually pull away.

The second game was a higher scoring affair, but once again the visitors never trailed after scoring three times in the top of the first.

Arcata’s Makayla Bernald

Bella Volz-Broughton and Maria Moorehouse led the way for the Tigers at the plate, finishing with a pair of hits each.

The Tigers scored multiple runs in each of the first four innings to open up a 13-2 lead.

Freshman Raina Ausburn got the save in relief of Bernald.

“It was a great game,” Arcata head coach Teresa Stavert said. “The team stayed together and played the game from start to finish.”

The Tigers open the Big 5 at Fortuna on Wednesday.

Fortuna 0, Montgomery 10

Fortuna 2, Cardinal Newman 17

The Huskies continued a tough pre-league schedule with a pair of games against two strong Santa Rosa programs.

The opener was a close affair and scoreless until the bottom of the fourth inning.

The Vikings, however, broke it open with six runs in the fifth.

At the plate for the Huskies, who are now 3-4, Olivia Sanchez, Jessica Bernal and Devin Butcher each had a base hit, including a double by Sanchez.

In game two, Cardinal Newman took a commanding 6-0 lead in the first and never looked back.

Third baseman Erin Schnabel was particularly dangerous for the Santa Rosa school, finishing 4-for-4 with two long home runs and eight RBIs.

Morgan Murray led the way for the Huskies at the plate, finishing 2-for-3 with a double and two runs scored.

The Huskies open the Big 5 at home to Arcata on Wednesday.

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