Sutter nine goes back to back

It didn't take Sutter High first baseman Dariusz Ratajczak long to circle the bases after delivering a game-clinching two-run homer in the seventh inning Saturday.

Then again, it didn't take long for the ball to clear the fence in right field.

"It was pretty cool. I just saw the line drive and (the ball) went through the trees," said Ratajczak as he and his teammates celebrated their second straight Northern Section Div. II baseball championship with a 5-1 win at Winters.

"This is a little more satisfying," starting pitcher Derek Carothers said of the win and comparing it to last year's victory, also against Winters. Carothers got the save in that game.

"This is my senior year, and I wanted to go out with a bang."

Carothers, who allowed a first-inning run, then shut the Warriors down on four hits the rest of the way, said he knew the game belonged to Sutter when Ratajczak hit his round-tripper.

Winters might have had that same feeling around the fourth inning when Carothers got command of his breaking pitch to go along with a solid fastball. He faced just one batter over the minimum after the third inning.

"He pitched the game of his life," Sutter coach Mark Renfree said of his starter.

Renfree said even though Winters had seen Carothers twice this season, he never hesitated giving the senior right-hander the ball.

"He's been getting stronger every outing," Renfree said.

Winters coach Jeff Ingles knew who was going to the hill for him, too, even though junior Ray McIntire never started a game this year.

"He's our guy, even though he hadn't had a lot of innings. He's a gamer, and you want to put your gamer on the mound in a game like this," Ingles said.

McIntire certainly rewarded Ingles' confidence early, retiring the first 10 batters he faced before giving up a full-count walk to Steven Carmack. One out and Carmack on second, Zach Prosser hit what appeared to be a harmless bouncer to third.

But Kaplan Smith's throw was high and Prosser reached safely. The play clearly rattled McIntire, who surrendered three consecutive singles to Mitch Sanders, Carothers and Colton Harris, the last two knocking in runs.

Carothers' hit was the strangest of the day. Dribbling a spinner right down the first-base line, the Winters' fielders allowed the ball to bend back into fair territory rather than swiping it away when it had rolled foul. A run scored on the play.

By the time the Warriors had stopped the bleeding, three unearned runs had crossed and Sutter had taken a 3-1 lead.

"I think if we would have made the play and got out of the inning, then we're still up 1-0 and things might have been different," Ingles said.

"The team that was mentally tougher won today. We made some mistakes and they didn't."

McIntire had opened the bottom of the first with a double that bounced off the left-field fence. He was sacrificed to third and scored on a single by Bryan Case, the first of his two hits.

Carothers worked out of that jam, then escaped the next three innings without any further damage even though Winters had runners in scoring position in each frame. A double play helped Sutter's ace out in the third. Prosser gunned down a would-be base stealer in the fourth.

After that, Carothers didn't need much help, although there were several nice defensive efforts just the same.

"I was glad when I got my curveball down. That helped me out a lot," Carothers said.

Sutter had a base runner on second in the sixth, but could not bring him around. In the seventh, Harris reached on an infield single, stole second, then jogged home ahead of Ratajczak following the home run.

"I knew (McIntire) liked throwing a curveball on the first pitch, but each time with me, he had thrown a fastball, and that's what I was looking for," Ratajczak said.

With two Section titles in hand, and a little fun ribbing about baseball stealing away some of Sutter football's thunder, Renfree wasn't quite ready to commit to a three-peat.

"I guess I have a couple of days before have to think about that," said Renfree, who received an ice-water shower after the win.

"That feels great," said Renfree, referring to the shower on a blistering hot day.

But he may as well have been talking about the championship.