The Roseville Tigers celebrate Benjamin Jordan’s solo home run during the Tigers’ win over Wheatland on June 4. Photo by Steven Bryla

YUBA-SUTTER, CA (YSBC) - The Wheatland baseball and East Nicolaus softball programs’ seasons ended on June 4 as they both lost in their semifinal matchups of the CIF NorCal Baseball and Softball Championships.

Roseville 4, Wheatland 0

Wheatland fell to the No. 2 ranked team in the Sac-Joaquin Section in their first-ever meeting with Roseville.

Tigers’ junior pitcher Vanderbilt commit Ethan Gustus shut down the hot-hitting Pirates lineup as he kept them off-balanced for most of the game.

Gustus favored the outer half of the plate as his slider was zipped past the Wheatland bats.

Gustus pitched six innings, surrendered one hit, walked four and had 14 strikeouts in the win.

The Pirates had a few mental mistakes in the first inning that gave the Tigers a 2-0 lead as an early bunt was thrown past first and put runners on second and third with no outs.

Roseville sophomore Benjamin Jordan hit a sacrifice fly for the first run of the game and after the run scored, Wheatland presumed there was time called and Tigers senior Jacob Welch took third.

There was a brief conference, and it was determined that time was never called, so Welch was 90 feet away and scored a couple pitches later on a passed ball.

Wheatland sophomore pitcher Jaxon Becker (42) tosses a pitch during the Pirates’ loss to Roseville on June 4. Photo by Steven Bryla

Despite being down, Pirates sophomore pitcher Jaxon Becker pitched a gem against one of the top teams in the SJS.

Becker’s breaking ball worked well throughout the outing, and he kept his pitch count under control.

Becker tossed six innings, gave up four runs off four hits and struck out eight in the loss.

Wheatland had runners in scoring position in the second and fourth innings but were unsuccessful at getting runs on the board.

The Tigers went up by three in the fifth after they caught a runner at first in a pickle and senior Devin Johnson took off from third and the first throw of the pickle was dropped.

The Pirates got their lone hit of the game in the fifth as junior Ezekiel Gutierrez singled with two outs.

Jordan hit a home run to the short porch in left field that extended the Roseville lead to four.

Tigers’ senior pitcher Dustin Holcomb closed out the game in the seventh and secured Roseville’s second-straight appearance in the NorCal Division III final.

Although the Pirates magical season ended on Thursday, the warm hugs and laughs with one another in their final huddle said it all.

Wheatland head coach Bradford Barton expressed to Yuba Sutter Butte Colusa Sports that he couldn’t have been prouder of his team for a season to remember.

Barton told the Pirates after their huddle “Let’s eat and break bread together one final time.”

East Nicolaus senior infielder Arii Denis (21) lines a double during the Spartans’ 7-6 defeat to Las Plumas on June 4. Photo by Chris Pedigo

Las Plumas (Oroville) 7, East Nicolaus 6

The East Nicolaus Spartan softball team fell to the No. 2 seeded Las Plumas Thunderbirds in extra innings.

On top of a trip to the NorCal Division III championship, this game solidified who the No, 1 team in the Northern Section as they were both ranked first and second in the section by MaxPreps heading into the matchup on June 4.

East Nicolaus took a 2-0 lead in the second as sophomore Aubrey York scored on a passed ball and sophomore Lily Smith scored an error.

Las Plumas answered back in the third inning and tied the game after junior infielder Marli Benedict hit a two-run home run.

The Thunderbirds took the lead in the fourth after sophomore Raegan Johnson hit an RBI double.

Las Plumas freshman Jayse Long (9) hits an RBI single on June 4, during to secure the Thunderbirds’ 7-6 win over East Nicolaus. Photo by Chris Pedigo

Johnson extended the Las Plumas lead in the fifth as she sent a three-run home run over the left field fence.

Johnson was the only player in the game to have a multi-hit game at the plate.

The Spartans quickly responded and tied the game quickly as senior infielder Arii Denis knocked in an RBI double and was followed by a couple of miscues by a couple Thunderbirds miscues as they ended the game with four errors.

East Nicolaus junior pitcher Kylah Glenn breezed through the sixth and seventh innings to take the game into extra innings deadlocked at six.

East Nicolaus sophomore Aubrey York (14) slides safely for the first run of the game on June 4 in the Spartans’ defeat to Las Plumas. Photo by Chris Pedigo

The Spartans went three up and three down in the eighth.

Glenn got the first two outs of the inning quickly but walked the next two hitters that set up freshman outfielder Jayse Long for the game-winning RBI single to Smith in left.

East Nicolaus head coach Dustin Massey expressed to YSBC that the senior class who graduated Friday night has a lot to be proud of and is special as it was the first class of girls he coached for the entirety of their high school career.

Massey added that throughout their careers, the 2026 graduates posted a 90-14 overall record, four league and section titles, a NorCal runner-up and a NorCal championship.

Massey said they will be missed because they have been the best leaders a coach could ask for and stepped up through multiple instances throughout their time in the program.