Yuba City wins to get into D-III playoffs; Unbeaten Sutter top-seed in D-V
May 10—Yuba City, with the help of its 5-2 win over Inderkum on Thursday to close out the regular season, earned the last of four playoff berths from the Capital Valley Conference and will be on the road as a No. 13 seed to take on No. 4 Ponderosa at 4 p.m. Tuesday in Shingle Springs.
Yuba City finished 16-10 but lost three of its last four in the CVC to drop into the four-spot. Back on April 25 after its 11-inning marathon win over River Valley, Yuba City was a game back of the league lead, but managed to fall two spots with its tailspin and now will likely be on the road for most of the postseason.
Patty Gates' team will rely heavily on junior Tori Hernandez in the circle to lead the Honkers through Division III. Hernandez struck out four in seven innings and allowed one earned run to wrap up the win over Inderkum.
Alexia Alvarez had two hits, while Hernandez and Lexi Dell each drove hom a pair offensively. Yuba City finished 7-5 in league for its first postseason appearance since 2018-19.
Yuba City or Ponderosa get either Rosemont or Ceres, in a 5-12 matchup, on Thursday at the highest seed available.
Division V
After an unbeaten 24-0 regular season, the run toward a Sac-Joaquin Section final begins for the Sutter Union High softball team Tuesday at home as the Huskies received the No. 1 seed in Division V and will open the playoffs against No. 8 West Campus (11-8).
It's the first meeting in the MaxPreps era between the schools. A win for Sutter and it will host the semifinals Thursday against the 4-5 winner between No. 4 Woodland Christian and No. 5 Riverbank. The D-V finals will be played Saturday at Cosumnes River College.
For Sutter, its looking at redemption after falling short of the section finals last year with a nine-inning loss to D-V champion Orestimba. It was only the third loss for the Sutter senior class as members of the varsity. Last year Sutter finished 26-2, the year before 31-1 and in 2021 Sutter went 24-0 in a year that did not include a postseason due to restrictions surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sonora (22-6) is the two-seed in the other half of the bracket.
Division IV
Wheatland (17-9), a second-place finisher in the Pioneer Valley League, earned a home playoff game as a six-seed and will host No. 11 Union Mine Tuesday at 4 p.m. at Wheatland Union High School.
The Pirates met Union Mine once in the MaxPreps era and lost back in 2011. The winner gets No. 3 Ripon, as one of four seeds to receive a first-round bye in D-IV. The top seed is Dixon, followed by No. 2 Central Catholic and No. 4 Kimball.
Division VII
Faith Christian earned a five-seed on Friday and will travel to No. 4 Foresthill Tuesday for a playoff opener in D-VII. The Lions were second in the Sacramento Metropolitan Athletic League to Buckingham Charter.
To purchase postseason tickets, visit https://gofan.co/app/school/CIFSJS.
