East Nic too much for Colusa

Spartans win rematch, to play Etna for section title on Saturday

After combining to with the last four Northern Section Division V championships, a playoff showdown between East Nicolaus and Colusa High’s softball teams was pretty much a forgone conclusion before the season even began.

Both clubs returned many of their top players after beating each other 1-0 in the title game the previous two seasons, and while this year’s rematch came in the semifinal round, there were plenty of reasons to believe Thursday’s clash in Trowbridge would be another close one that would come down to the wire.

As it turned out, the highly anticipated rematch was a mismatch.

Hitting the ball all over the field from the start, top-seeded East Nicolaus smacked 17 hits and coasted to a 12-0 victory over No. 4 Colusa to punch its ticket back to the section championship game.

The Spartans scored four runs in the bottom of the first inning, added two runs in both the second and third, and plated four more runs in the fourth to end the game in the fifth by the 10-run rule.

Avery Croxall struck out the side in three of those innings, and finished the day with 11 strikeouts and one walk while tossing a three-hit shutout.

Croxall had plenty of run support to back her up with Savhanna Angland going 3 for 4 with two doubles, four RBIS and two runs scored, and Te’a Mcauliff finishing 3 for 3 with a double, RBI and scoring twice. Brynn Lauppe went 2 for 3 with a double and two RBIS, and Savannah Price drove in two runs including a monster home run in the third inning.

Haley Busby, Riley Grigsby and Emma Gaytan also chipped in with two hits apiece for the Spartans. Busby knocked in two runs and scored twice, Grigsby had an RBI and two runs scored, and Gaytan scored twice as well in the victory.

“We had some really well-hit balls,” East Nicolaus coach Neil Stinson said. “It was the best five innings we have played all season.”

The Spartans (31-2) will take a 16-game winning streak into Saturday’s championship game against No. 2-seeded Etna (28-3-1), which picked up a 6-3 win over No. 3 Biggs (24-5) in Thursday’s other semifinal. The game is scheduled for 2 p.m. back at East Nicolaus.

Addie Taylor recorded two singles and Jessica Hickel chipped in with a single of her own to account for Colusa’s three hits. The defending champion Redhawks finished the year 21-7-2 overall.

Sutter 3, Central Valley 2, 9 inn. In Sutter – Darcy Gillen drove in Meadow Topete with the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the top-seeded Huskies to a thrilling victory over the No. 4 Falcons in the Northern Section Division IV semifinals.

Tied 2-2 after eight innings, Sutter started its winning rally when Topete singled with one out and moved up to second on a perfectly executed bunt by Julia Tarke. Gillen was up next, and slapped a two-out single to left field as Topete raced home for the walk-off winner

Topete finished the day 3 for 4 with two runs scored, and Gillen went 2 for 5 with two RBIS to lead the way for the Huskies at the plate. Tarke, Hailey Peterson and Sam Anderson each added a single, and Peterson struck out 13 and scattered 10 hits over nine innings to record the win in the circle.

It was the 21st straight victory for Sutter (26-1), which advanced to the section title game for the sixth consecutive year. The Huskies will host No. 7-seeded Lassen (17-17) on Saturday at 2 p.m., where they will look to win the 16th section title in program history and second in a row.

This will be the fourth straight year Sutter and Lassen will meet for the championship.