Hillmen haunted by slow start, errors against Yuba City

Errors and a slow start were the Achilles' heel of the Placer High School baseball team Wednesday night at James Field in Auburn, as the Hillmen were unable to crawl out of a 5-0 hole in the first inning. Placer (13-11 overall, 7-7 Foothill Valley League) could only conjure three hits as Yuba City (19-5, 12-2) cruised to a 7-3 victory. The Honkers secured a series victory and clinched a share of the FVL title. The Honkers jumped on Placer early, scoring five runs on four hits in the first inning. Ashton Decker drew an RBI walk to open the scoring, followed by a two-RBI single by Cesar Guizar. Wyatt Lane drove in two with a two-out double to right field. Despite his struggles in the first, Placer starter Jayson Glatt regained control and retired nine of the next 11 batters. He kept Yuba City off the board again until the fifth, when Guizar drove in a run home with a ground-ball single through the infield. Placer made three errors. The Hillmen got on the board in the third inning on an RBI walk to Robby Silski, but didn't muster any hits until Devin Knight led off the fifth with a single. The Honkers added insurance in the seventh, but even staring at a six-run deficit, Placer went down swinging. With two outs and a man on base, Silski and Gavin Otis drew walks to load the bases. Will Rodgers legged out an infield single to score Knight and a throwing error brought Otis home. Unfortunately for the Hillmen, the rally ended there and left the tying run in the on-deck circle. Decker earned the win, pitching three hitless innings and holding the Hillmen to one run while striking out four and walking five. Julian Garcia pitched 3⅔ innings in relief and struck out four. Eliaja Moncher struck out the only hitter he faced for the final out.