May, Lady Pirates roll Sutter
It's been a long three years for the Wheatland High softball program.
Since defeating rival Sutter in the 2007 Northern Section championship game, the Pirates came into 2011 without a single victory over the Huskies.
If four years of facing former Husky and current University of Oregon star Jessica Moore wasn't enough, Wheatland didn't get any breaks facing the A-D's 2010 Player of the Year Jolene Graham last season.
Three straight years of being swept, three years looking up in the Butte View League standings, and three years of watching their biggest rival hoist section championship banners.
The Pirates have had enough.
Wheatland followed up a 4-2 victory over Sutter earlier this month with a 9-2 win on Wednesday at home, clinching the season series for the first time since 2005.
Sophomore right-hander Randi May, who dropped a pitcher's duel with Graham in 2010, has defeated the Huskies twice this season. She scattered six Sutter hits and struck out seven.
With a 3-0 lead, May surrendered two runs in the fourth inning, though she picked herself up in the fifth inning with an opposite-field, RBI double to the left-center field gap, highlighting a five-run inning for Wheatland.
"I didn't get upset, but kind of frustrated because some of my pitches weren't moving (in the fourth inning)," May said. "Other than that I shut it out the rest of the (game) and just threw my game."
After going 12-5 with a 1.46 ERA as a freshman last year, May went straight back to work with her club team in Roseville this offseason working on spins, increasing velocity, and harnessing her ability to spot a pitch.
All in preparation for this season, where the Pirates' goal is to win a league title and get back to the title game for the first time since 07.
May doesn't let the adrenaline of a rivalry game affect her performance though.
"I treat every team the same because if you don't you're going to play less competitively," May said. "That's when they come out and beat you. I've seen it, I've done it."
Wheatland (15-8, 8-0) jumped on Sutter (14-7, 6-2) early with back-to-back singles in the first inning from Tara McIntyre and Melanie Permann. Both runners would score on productive, RBI outs from May and Talia Rios.
Sutter hindered its own efforts with four errors behind starting pitcher Sami Prosser, which resulted in prolonged innings and extra scoring opportunities for Wheatland.
"That will kill you," Coach Raoul Singh said. "We didn't play up to par as far as I'm concerned. I don't think we've peaked yet."
Sutter will get one more chance to add a blemish to Wheatland's perfect BVL mark on Friday at Belza Field in Sutter.
The Pirates are looking for their first league title since the 2005 season when they went 27-1 overall and won the section championship.
Coach Jim Vossler isn't ready to look forward to anything yet. There are four games remaining on the league schedule he's concerned with.
"It's going to be a battle every game," Vossler said. "(Sutter) has just outplayed us the last three or four years in league so it's nice to give one back to them."
