Sutter rallies past Bradshaw Christian in 13-inning thriller to win section championship

The first pitch at Sacramento City College on Tuesday night was delivered at 6 p.m. with the sun still shining on a warm 82-degree evening.

The game ended nearly four hours later with the temperature at 62 in brisk Candlestick Park-like weather, only without the fog of San Francisco or the seagulls.

New to this section and still enjoying the honeymoon and the view, top-seeded Sutter High School scored on a throwing error in the bottom of the 13th inning to stun defending champion Bradshaw Christian 4-3 to win the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division V banner at Union Stadium.

The marathon felt like a double-header without the break in between as prep games usually go seven innings. Fans who underestimated how chilly it can get in this venue after dark were left to cheer, shiver and wait. The winning side didn’t feel so cold afterward after watching a remarkable display of skill, grit and resolve from the small-school powerhouses who have now combined to win 15 section championships in the last 10 seasons.

“Oh, it’s the greatest thing, and this is so great for our team and our school,” Sutter junior Rylan Giovannoni said.

Giovannoni sparked a Huskies rally when they trailed 3-0 and then won it racing home off a bunt by Jordan Lee that was fielded and thrown away at first base. Giovannoni said he slid head first into home “just to make sure” and because it’s more fun that way. Victory is sweeter when uniforms are dirtied. Giovannoni then jumped up and raced to the infield to dog pile with his teammates to punctuate their place in history.

Sutter won eight of the last nine Northern Section baseball championships before realignment placed a school that opened in 1893 — yes, 130 years ago — into the much larger and more competitive Sac-Joaquin Section. Sutter students, coaches, teachers, families and the community in general embraced the move into the second largest of the 10 sections that dot the state under the umbrella of the CIF.

Sutter never blinked on the larger stage. The Huskies went 10-1 in football, rolled to a 26-2 showing in softball and now this, a superbly coached and prepared baseball team that includes seven starters who have been together since they were in elementary school.

Giovannoni with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning ripped a two-run double to tie it 3-3. The 3.75 GPA student had two RBI on the night, but all he could really talk about were his teammates, and there are a lot of them.

Lee and Andrew Hanson each had two hits and Hanson had an RBI. And there was Logan Yacavace. The junior shortstop had two hits and scored a run, and he earned the victory in relief of ace Jagger Beck by striking out 10 in 6.2 innings of work, allowing three hits but no walks and no runs.

It was the most innings Yacavace had pitched all season.

“He was incredible,” Sutter coach Stewart Peterson said. “He was frothing at the mouth at the opportunity — ‘give me the ball!’”

The coach praised all of his guys. He told them how proud he was of them as they stood in left field in front of a Union Stadium scoreboard that showed only three innings. The scoreboard ran out of room and started over.

“What a great game,” Peterson said. “It was a team effort. They’re homegrown kids. They put their hard hats on and come to work every day. We have a great school and a great community. These kids play hard and play for each other, and they love being around each other.”

Peterson can appreciate championship baseball at this level because he played for such a program in Santa Rosa at famed Cardinal Newman High School. A math teacher on campus, Peterson is in his ninth year as the Huskies’ head baseball coach and 16th overall with the program. He has coached the school’s freshman football team for 14 seasons.

Not only do the players play multiple sports, but the coaches lead multiple teams. It’s a way of life for small schools. Beck, Sutter’s ace, is a 6-foot-6 junior who plays quarterback, posts up in basketball and is 9-1 on the mound this spring. He struck out nine on Tuesday. Sutter catcher Landon Sable also played football and scores of others on the baseball roster competed in other sports.

All of this excitement came on a school night and an hour from home.

“We’ll have some kids dragging (on Wednesday) at school but it’s better to be doing so with a victory,” Peterson said.

Sutter (23-5-1) will take its seven-game winning streak into a two-game CIF Northern California regional tournament that starts next week.

Bradshaw Christian finished 22-6. A host of players will return for the Pride and coaches Kurt Takahashi and Drew Rickert: sophomore leadoff hitter/infielder/pitcher Ethan Rickert (he had a hit and struck out two in relief); junior do-all star Micah Nicholson (two hits, an RBI and two runs scored and five strikeouts in relief); and ace David Wiser (eight strikeouts as the starting pitcher).