Yuba-Sutter-Colusa athletics: RV walks off Bear Creek, 7-6; Sutter advances in NSCIF bracket
May 19—Prep softball
River Valley 7, Bear Creek 6
The Falcons took care of business at home Tuesday via the walk-off bases-loaded walk issued to Harmony Balchus, giving seventh-seeded RV a 7-6 win over No. 10 Bear Creek (Stockton) in the opening round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II playoffs.
RV (17-9-1) will travel to Sacramento Friday to take on No. 2 St. Francis (24-3) in the SJS quarterfinals. First pitch is set for 4 p.m.
St. Francis finished second in the Delta League that includes playoff teams Sheldon, Elk Grove and Pleasant Grove.
The Falcons struck first on Bear Creek (21-6) with four first-inning runs. Head coach Tom Almond said the team got a run-scoring single from Diana Hull and a double by freshman Claudia Dudek to plate Hull and Korrie Almond. River Valley scored twice more in the third on another double by Dudek.
Dudek finished 2-for-3 at the plate with four runs batted in. Hull added a team-high three hits, while Samantha Hall added two hits and scored twice on Tuesday.
In the circle, senior Korrie Almond pitched a complete-game, allowing four earned runs and striking out eight in the win.
NSCIF playoffs
Top-seeded Sutter Union advanced into the D-IV semifinals with a 15-0 win at home over No. 9 Paradise Tuesday. Sutter (26-1), in its last year in the NSCIF, will host No. 4 Lassen (20-8-1) at 4 p.m. today (Thursday) in the semifinals.
In the other half of the D-IV bracket, Wheatland (26-3) got into the semifinals with a 8-0 win over Colusa.
Sophomores Hallie Prather and Zoey Tinsley each tallied three hits, while Prather drove in four.
Wheatland, seeded No. 2, hosts No. 3 West Valley (19-4-1) at 4 p.m. today.
In D-V, East Nicolaus (26-2) returned to familiar territory with a spot in the section championship following its 17-0 win over No. 4 Portola Tuesday. The Spartans will host No. 2 Los Molinos for the NSCIF final at 2 p.m. Saturday.
To purchase tickets visit https://gofan.co/app/school/CIFNS.
Shotgun
Sutter Union High School's trap, skeet and shotgun team added to its collection over the weekend with a number of honors at the California Youth Shooting Sports Association (CYSSA) skeet state championship in Stockton.
For the first time, the Sutter varsity skeet team won the series shoots competition and finished second overall in the state skeet team competition by a few targets, according to a news release submitted to the Appeal.
Sutter head coach Dave Samson called the competition stiff and was pleased with the team's ability to persevere again.
The varsity skeet team consists of Jackson Zoller, Connor Babler, Josh GrGanto, Nick Moody, Jaxon Smith, James Cooley, Andrew Jacobs, Nate Jones, Isabel Boardman, Cloey Carrier, Jack Munger, Gavin Triplett, Gavin Crawford, and Charles Roberts.
Horse polo
Sutter Buttes Polo Club is hosting a 10-team event beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday at 373 Shannon Road in South Yuba City.
The venue is the home of Bonnie Magill, one of the organizers of the Sutter Buttes Polo Club.
Magill said the public is welcome to watch the event for free, but cannot bring dogs.
There will be polo teams from UC Davis and Stanford as well as teams coming from Gilroy, Oakdale, and Stevinson.
A total of four games are on the schedule, Magill said.
