Sutter
SUTTER, CA (MPG) - Walking into the Sutter baseball and softball complex in the back of the school, you get posterized with recent success as Arata Field outfield’s fence displays five of the last six Northern Section titles for the Huskies.

Sutter head coach Stewart Peterson, who is entering his 16th season on staff and ninth managing the Huskies, told the Dispatch their success is driven from a lot of hard work and dedication.

“The one common goal is to be the best version of ourselves,” Peterson said.

Sutter was going to open their season on March 6 as they planned to host the Gridley Bulldogs in a rematch of the 2022 NSCIF Division III, but it was rescheduled on April 11, after the recent rainy weather washed out the next attempt last Wednesday.

“We’re working every day with keeping our arms loose and getting fresh swings in,” Peterson told the Dispatch.

With the Huskies now playing in the Sac-Joaquin Section, they are excited for new competition, and the experienced roster brings back key elements from last year’s squad.

Sutter senior right-handed pitcher Matthew Lorentz said that Sutter is ready to get on the field and play. Lorentz led the Huskies last season in wins (7), innings pitched (47) and strikeouts (53).

Huskies junior right-handed pitcher Jagger Beck is the other half of the main 1-2 punch of Sutter’s pitching staff, but Peterson added they have a deep staff all around and he asks the pitchers to just throw strikes.

Peterson expressed to the Dispatch that his senior leadership over the years has been phenomenal, and this year is no different with senior catcher Landon Sable.

“He is one of the best leaders I’ve had in my time here,” Peterson said.

Sable’s senior football season was cut short due to an injury but he told the Dispatch he is 100 percent good to go and ready to play his senior season of baseball.

The chemistry of this team is tight and it was on full-display with the Dispatch present at practice.

The trust and chemistry between pitchers and catchers is important. Sable mentioned to the Dispatch the trust is there between him and the pitching staff.

“They trust they can throw a ball into the dirt or something new and I have their back on it with the confidence of them throwing it and needing to block it if I need to,” Sable said.

Sable added that the chemistry within the entire team is close as they see one another throughout school and they all are hanging out with one another after school as well.

The Huskies were scheduled to start Pioneer Valley League play this week against Center.

Marysville
MARYSVILLE, CA (MPG) - The Marysville Indians has been able to get a couple of games in before they are scheduled to begin PVL play this week against Bear River.

Marysville opened their season on March 2 with a 6-5 loss at Florin where the game was called to darkness as the game was tied in the top of the sixth inning but due to rules, the inning must be complete to count. The Indians followed up the season opening loss with a 6-1 victory over River Valley on March 3.

Marysville got no-hit against Nevada Union on March 7 and Indians head coach Bill Rollins expressed to the Dispatch it’s still in the process of finding the right lineup that works on the field and gets all of their pitching some work.

Marysville senior right-handed pitcher/infielder Jack Howsley said, as a senior leader, the main way to keep his team focused this season is to show up everyday and for everyone to give their best effort.

Howsley and fellow senior pitcher Steven Cherry mentioned to the Dispatch they have lost a lot of talent from last year’s team, but they also have a lot of that roster coming back.

“We know the team we are, we need to bounce back and we know we can,” Cherry said.

Cherry and Howsley are the two most experienced pitchers returning on Rollins’ team this season. Cherry returns with the second most wins (8) and innings pitched (59.1) from last season along with Howsley returns with 27.1 inning pitched and three wins on the mound.

Indians senior catcher Maddox Marino told the Dispatch the thought of last year’s controversial loss in the SJS Division IV Final is behind them and they have moved forward.

“We’re going to use it as motivation instead of crying about it,” Marino said. He added that with this senior class being as close as they are, they aren’t afraid of being brutally honest with one another.

“We all respect each other to be able to tell if someone is in the wrong,” Marino exclaimed.

Yuba City
YUBA CITY, CA (MPG) - The Yuba City Honkers baseball team seems like they haven’t been affected by the weather like other programs in the area as they have gotten all of their games in so far in the 2023 season.

Yuba City is 2-2 on the year and played a challenging schedule so far as they played the finalist in the SJS Division II in a comeback win over McClatchy on March 2 and lost this past Friday to the SJS Division II winner in Whitney of Rocklin 11-1.

The Honkers’ first loss came at the hands of West Park of Roseville on Wednesday, March 8, where Yuba City helped them win with multiple errors throughout the game in the 3-2 defeat.

Yuba City head coach Maury Castaneda expressed to the Dispatch that the other factor of the night was that they weren’t able to put the ball in play.

“We couldn’t hit the ball,” Castaneda said. The Honkers mustered up three hits total in the game. The Yuba City pitching between junior pitcher Grant Fletcher and senior pitcher Aaron Dalpoggetto did a great job as they allowed three hits between the two, but their defense committed five errors in the game.

“Baseball is a game of habits, the more games we play in a week, the better off we’ll be,” Castaneda said.

The game against West Park wasn’t scheduled until that early afternoon as Castaneda wanted to get as many games in as he could before the rain took over the ability to get games in.

Fletcher pitched four strong innings and was able to keep the ball low with off-speed pitches that made West Park jump out in front of the ball.

Dalpoggetto relieved Fletcher in the fifth inning and pitched three innings of straight fast balls until the final pitch of the seventh inning where he threw his lone breaking ball of the night.

The Honkers were supposed to open Capital Valley Conference play at Inderkum on Tuesday, followed by a home game Thursday evening before they are back on the road to the Natomas area in Sacramento this Friday night.

Yuba City is looking to get back into the SJS playoffs for the first time since the 2019 season.