Huskies Sweep Hughson, Rematch with Bradshaw Christian in D-V Finals
May 24, 2024 12:11PM ● By Steven Bryla, photos by Steven BrylaSutter junior infielder Ezra Hilleary (2) hits the game-tying hit against Hughson on Wednesday, May 15, in the seventh inning of the Huskies’ 6-5 win.
SUTTER,CA (MPG) - The Sutter Huskies baseball team punched their opportunity to win a second consecutive CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division V championship as they swept the Hughson Huskies in a best-of-three series for the second-straight year last week with 10-2 and 6-5 victories.
Sutter chipped away in game one on Monday, May 13, at Hughson as they scored in the first couple innings and led 3-2 after four.
Sutter junior
pitcher/outfielder Carson Bishop (3) throws a pitch during one of his three
shutout innings on the mound for the Huskies’ 6-5 victory on Wednesday, May 15.
Sutter senior pitcher/outfielder Rylan Giovannoni pitched five strong innings on the mound where he gave up four hits, two runs and struck out five.
After stringing together three hits with two outs in the top of the fifth, Sutter extended their lead 5-2. In the top of the sixth they added five more runs, including three extra-base hits before senior pitcher Kasey Combo relieved Giovannoni for 1.2 innings of shutout ball to help secure the game one of the series.
In game two of the series at Sutter on Wednesday, May 15, Hughson got on the board early in the first inning as they put three runs across the plate in a hurry before the first out of the game was recorded.
Hughson was effective in raising the pitch count off of Sutter senior pitcher/Hawaii signee Jagger Beck as they added a run in the third and fourth inning to take a 5-0 lead.
Beck pitched four innings where he gave up five runs, four hits and walked five hitters on the afternoon and had his pitch count in the mid-90s.
Sutter freshman
infielder Sam Cheatle (25) scores the winning run for the Huskies in the 6-5
victory over Hughson on Wednesday, May 15.
Sutter head coach Stewart Peterson brought in junior outfielder/pitcher Carson Bishop to pitch the top of the fifth.
Like Giovannoni, Bishop is a left-handed pitcher who made the Hughson hitters struggle at the plate as he pitched three-shutout innings.
“I came in confident with the mindset that if I come in and throw strikes, I would be able to shut them down and be successful,” Bishop said.
Sutter got their first run on the board in the bottom of the sixth when junior outfielder Jonny Munger brought senior infielder Logan Yacavace in on a fielder’s choice.
A key component that is instilled in the Sutter baseball program is they do not give up and never feel they are out of a game.
The Dispatch can count multiple times throughout the last couple seasons where Sutter has shown grit and that “never give up” attitude.
Hughson junior pitcher Max Mankins had kept his pitch count low through the first few innings against Sutter, but he threw around 45 pitches between the fifth and sixth inning to get his pitch count into the high 90s where he was taken out after throwing six shutout innings, surrendered only three hits and walked three.
Hughson brought in senior pitcher Paul Wagner to get the final three outs and send the series back to Hughson for a series rubber match with a trip to the SJS D-V final.
The Sutter hitting lineup flustered Wagner as they had two singles in the innings and drew three walks to cut the deficit to 5-3.
Wagner was replaced with the bases loaded and one out. Sutter junior third baseman Ezra Hilleary took a 2-1 pitch with a base hit to left field to tie the game at five.
Hilleary told the Dispatch that he had the mindset of doing whatever he had to do to get the ball in play and move the runners.
Munger ended the game a couple pitches later as he hit the ball to the right side of the infield with runners on second and third to send Sutter back to the SJS D-V final.
Peterson told the Dispatch the belief in this team of never giving up even when they are down.
“We knew if we kept chipping away that we would give ourselves a shot if we had an at-bat left,” Peterson said.
Sutter had a rematch of the 2023 SJS Division V final this past Wednesday, May 22, against Bradshaw Christian (Elk Grove) at Islanders Field in Lathrop.
The result of this game was past the Dispatch’s print deadline.
The winner of this game would move onto the CIF NorCal baseball tournament as brackets will be released this weekend following the conclusion of all section final games this week.