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Sutter High players celebrate as Jeremy Birmingham heads off the field after hitting the game-winning home run against Orland Friday in a Northern Section Div. II playoff game. The Huskies won, 8-6.
Ana Pimsler/Appeal-Democrat
Sutter High second baseman Steven Carmack dives for the ball during Friday’s playoff game against Orland.
Ana Pimsler/Appeal-Democrat
Last at-bat heroics
Home run in 7th keys Sutter win
Jeremy Birmingham couldn't have picked a better time to hit his first-ever high school home run on Friday.
Tied 6-6 in the bottom of the seventh, Sutter High's Birmingham smashed a walk-off two-run homer to left-center field to deliver an 8-6 win over Orland to the home crowd in a Division II Northern Section baseball opener.
"It felt pretty good, and when I heard the crowd and saw the ball, I thought it had a shot of going out," Birmingham said of the hit, just moments after the game. "It's the best feeling."
After a walk and a sacrifice bunt to advance the runner, Sutter's Daniel Denton reached on a fielder's choice right before Birmingham did his damage.
The home run lifted Sutter (24-5) to a semifinal matchup against the winner of No. 3 Yreka-No. 6 West Valley on Tuesday at home. The long ball also acted as a crushing blow to a rallying Orland team (10-12-1).
Trailing 6-2 headed into the top of the sixth, the Trojans scored a pair of runs off two hits on Sutter hurler Derek Carothers, who otherwise had an outstanding outing, striking out nine batters, allowing just six hits, one walk and only two earned runs.
The two runs cut the lead in half, and in the top of the seventh, after struggling to produce anything against Carothers all game, Orland's Alex Hernandez hammered a two-run homer to deep left-center field to tie the game.
"We were right where wanted to be," said Orland head coach James Marston. "But that's a very good team over there, and they were just a little bit better than us today. I'm proud of my guys though. We're a young team; we'll be back next year."
For Sutter coach Mark Renfree, Sutter's late run was quite a scare.
"They came out and played error-less baseball for the most part and put the pressure on us," Renfree said of Orland. "But Jeremy got a hold of one and now we'll play Tuesday. It was a beautiful hit."
Renfree and Birmingham both admitted the team was a little tight to start the game.
"We were all a little nervous," Birmingham said. "We'll still be nervous on Tuesday, just because we're trying to defend a title and go back-to-back."
The defending champions didn't necessarily play like it to open the game, committing two errors and allowing Orland to take a 2-0 lead in the first inning.
"The kids came out tight and had a few uncharacteristic errors," Renfree said. "But then we battled back."
Carothers settled in and got in the groove after giving up a double to Hernandez and a single to Kyle Ferry. He struck out consecutive batters to end the first and went on to toss four hitless innings.
Sutter bounced back with two runs in the bottom half with a two-RBI double by Zach Prosser, and scored one more in third after Carothers helped his own cause with an RBI double.
Prosser went 2-for-3 with two RBIs, while Birmingham led the team from the plate, going 4-for-5 with three RBIs.
The Huskies put two more runs on the board in the fourth following a two-RBI double by Mitch Sanders, and one more in the fifth, when Birmingham knocked in Denton, who was hit by a pitch — the fourth time for Orland pitcher Alex Galvan.
"Alex pitched a great game, I thought," Marston said of his starting pitcher who went the distance.
Denton, Prosser and Josh Birmingham each scored two runs for Sutter, while Orland's Hernandez led the Trojans from the plate, going 2-for-4 with the home run and a double.
Contact sports reporter Bryan DeMain at bdemain@appealdemocrat.com or at 749-4796.
