Sutter survives Wheatland comeback

By this point, all Ray Miller could do was breathe deep and throw strikes.

Tying run on first, no outs, his team fresh off coughing up four runs, the Sutter High senior couldn't let the nerves overcome him, not now. He'd been in these pressure situations before, but they hadn't ended well.

Wednesday was different. Miller struck out the side in the bottom of the seventh inning and the Huskies baseball team survived a late Wheatland rally to win 7-6. After the game, as the Pirates talked about their almost comeback in right field, Miller was the subject of compliments in the dugout.

Miller didn't have much to say besides that he "took a couple of deep breaths" after Wheatland's Michael Woods led off the final frame with a rope to right. After that, he put down the final three in order — a dominant ending to a game that looked all Sutter early on.

The Huskies (15-5, 7-2), a day off losing to Butte View League front-runner Winters, opened up a five-run lead by the fourth inning. This one had the makings of an easy rebound victory early, not one that would come down to the final inning and flirt with a collapse. Wheatland surged with two outs in the sixth, plating four runs off fours hits and an error.

"No, you never want to see that happen as a coach," Huskies coach Mark Renfree said. "That's what can give a coach gray hairs."

The Pirates' No. 9 hitter, Javier Lopez Jr., keyed the rally by drawing a walk off Sutter starter Dylan Russell, who went 52⁄3 before being relieved by Miller. Then the top of the order went off as Lopez, Hayden Leismann, Nolan West and Tyler Creditor all scored. The stream of runs finally stopped after a runner was gunned down at second trying to stretch an RBI single.

Still, Wheatland had revived itself. The dugout chatter got louder and these players believed they could walk-off. One trait that ever-impresses coach Eric Valencia about his team is their resolve: No temper tantrums, no moaping — just a desire to keep playing hard in tough spots.

"We battled and that's something we've been doing a good job at," he said. "We get down a few runs and we don't get down on ourselves."

He'll admit though that the hole they buried themselves in was just too big, even for all the gusto and big at-bats in the late innings. Sutter staked itself a 3-0 lead in the first inning and padded it with two more in the second. Russell wore the first pitch of the game, Morgan Osgood reached on an error and Nathan Ahlers made it sting with a hard-hit, two-RBI double to left-center field.

Lucas Hensley brought in Ahlers and finished 3 for 4 with two RBIs. Ahlers hit a pair of RBI doubles and also picked up a walk for the Huskies, who were shutout in the final three innings.

"We just didn't play well at the beginning of the game," Valencia said.

Wheatland's chance for atonement comes quickly. These two teams will face off again on Friday with a chance for the Pirates (9-9, 5-4) to even up with their rival in the BVL standings.