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Sutter High’s Jorge Valdespino fires a pitch during a game against Durham earlier this season.
Nick Adams/Appeal-Democrat
Section baseball titles up for grabs
Sutter, Maxwell looking to repeat
Reaching Northern Section championship games is becoming old hat for the elite Mid-Valley area baseball teams.
Maxwell High will be gunning for its fourth straight Northern Section title — and fifth in the past six seasons — when the Panthers host Fall River at 4 p.m. today in the Division V championship.
Sutter's baseball team is trying to repeat as the Northern Section Div. IV champion, returning to the site of last year's Cinderella crown to take on Butte View League champion and top-seed Winters at noon today.
Meanwhile, the Yuba City baseball team faces Vanden at 3 p.m. today at Dan McAuliffe Field near the Sacramento State campus to start a best-of-three Sac-Joaquin Section Div. III playoff series with the winner advancing to the championship game.
The Honkers are the defending champions.
NORTHERN SECTION BASEBALL
DIVISION IV
Sutter at Winters
The two meetings this spring between the two BVL foes went into extra innings.
Winters (21-4) won at home in eight innings, 10-9, and the Sutter (25-5) won at home, 5-4, in nine innings.
Derek Carothers went all nine innings in the second game.
"Derek kept getting stronger as the game wore on," Sutter coach Mark Renfree said. "He threw about 145 pitches."
Carothers, Sutter's ace, gets the nod on the hill today.
The key for Sutter, Renfree said, "is hitting the ball on the ground, keeping it out of the air, and playing good defense."
All season long, the Huskies have relied on their hitting and defense to win games.
"And we've got good team speed," Renfree said. "If we get guys on we'll probably score some runs."
Repeating as Section champions would mean a lot to the players, Renfree said.
"I don't think any Sutter baseball team has won back-to-back titles."
DIVISION V
Fall River at Maxwell
The Panthers (27-3) will be looking for some revenge against the Bulldogs (17-11), who beat Maxwell, 14-13, last fall for the Northern Section football championship.
"We should have a big home crowd advantage with the rodeo going on here at the same time," Maxwell coach Eric Lay said.
The two teams met twice this year, with Maxwell winning, 2-1 and 13-5.
Maxwell goes with its ace, freshman Steven Perry, on the mound.
"They really struggled with (Perry's) breaking ball" Lay said, referring to the 2-1 win.
Lay added he purposely did not pitch Perry against the Bulldogs in their second meeting, thinking they might see each other in the playoffs, and he didn't want them to have two good looks at his freshman hurler.
If Perry struggles, Lay said Hunter Stillwell and Gustavo Rangel are rested.
Fall River's pitchers cannot say the same. The Bulldogs' ace went six innings on Tuesday, said Lay, who believes his club will face a left-hander today.
In preparation for that, Lay said Wheatland southpaw Josh Embree threw batting practice in Maxwell on Friday.
SAC-JOAQUIN SECTION
DIVISION III
Yuba City vs. Vanden
Michael Lowden gets the nod on the mound for the Honkers (26-2) in the first game of the best-of-three series.
"He matches up pretty well against them," Yuba City coach Jim Stassi said. "He's got really good command of his breaking ball. He can throw it for strikes in any count situation."
The Vikings (17-6) are aggressive at the plate, Stassi said, and like to go after a first-pitch fast ball.
"We may have to start with off-speed stuff," Stassi added.
Vanden, meanwhile, will go with its No. 2 hurler, after its ace, Andrew Aplin, starred in Thursday's 4-0 win over Bella Vista. He's not as dominant as the ace, Stassi said, "giving up about a hit an inning." His ERA is right about 3.00.
When Aplin is not pitching, he play center field and is the Vikings' leadoff batter.
"If we can keep him off the bases we'll be in pretty good shape," Stassi said of Aplin.
The second game of the best 2-of-3 series will be played Wednesday.
TODAY’S TITLE TILTS
NORTHERN SECTION
DIVISION IV
• Sutter at Winters, noon
DIVISION V
• Fall River at Maxwell, 4 p.m.
SAC-JOAQUIN SECTION
DIVISION III
• Yuba City vs. Vanden, 3 p.m., Dan McAuliffe Field, Sacramento (best 2-of-3 semifinals)
Contact sports reporter Richard Myers at 749-4714 or rmyers@appeal-democrat.com
