Tigers win 8-0 behind Ritter 1-hitter

Tyler Ritter pitched a one-hitter and struck out 10 and Roseville High School scored runs in each of the first three innings leading to a 8-0 win over East Union in the first game of a best-of-three series in the semifinal round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV baseball playoffs Tuesday in Roseville. Roseville scored two runs in each of the first two innings and then put up four runs in the third to take an 8-0 lead. About the only thing the Tigers didn't do well was score more runs, as Roseville left the bases loaded in the second, third and fifth innings. Ritter allowed his only hit to the first batter of the game, who hit the ball up the middle of the field and second baseman Justin Fischer had no play on the ball once he ran it down. "I was getting ahead and it opened up all my pitches to me," Ritter said. "I also had run support early and that took a lot of pressure off of me. I couldn't do it without my teammates. I love the early runs. That made it a lot easier for me. I throw a fastball, curve, slider and changeup. I didn't throw the changeup today, but mixed in the curve and slider and they were good in different situations." Ritter's coach, Eli Garcia, loved watching his big right-hander work. "The biggest thing with Tyler is to throw strikes and compete," Garcia said. "That's his attribute that he brings. You know he's going to throw multiple pitches for strikes and you know he's going to compete around the zone and that's what is so special about him." Offensively, a bulk of Roseville's damage came from playing small ball. The Tigers successfully put down five or six bunts, three which ended up being infield hits and the others moved runners up a base. "We stuck to our system of baseball and that's something we've been emphasizing and when we play that way it's great to see," Garcia said. "Offensively, we found a way to manufacture runs. We take a lot of stuff we do from west coast college baseball and for the guys that are going to play at the next level, one through nine you've got to be able to bunt. We preach that and we did a good job with it today." Roseville's first two runs didn't come from playing small ball. Justin Fischer was safe on an error and Ben Jordan followed with a two-run home run to give Roseville the early lead in the first inning. In the second inning, Ashton Chang doubled and Brett Reager singled before Chang scored on a throwing error by East Union's catcher. Colton Wolfe then walked to load the bases. Austin Chang then put a bunt down that not only scored Reager from third, but Austin Chang also beat out the bunt for a single. In the third inning, Devin Johnson started the inning with an infield single and Ashton Chang was then hit by a pitch to put two runners on. Reager then bunted the runners up a base before Johnson scored on a wild pitch. Wolfe drew his second base on balls before Austin Chang's bunt single scored another run. Fischer then made it 7-0 with an RBI single and Roseville's final run came two batters later on Jacob Welch's groundout. The closest East Union came to getting a second hit came in the fourth inning when Kirk Simoni hit a ball to deep left field that Ashton Chang made a leaping catch at the wall for an out. Garcia was thrilled to take a 1-0 lead in the series, but cautioned, "I know we're going to get their 'A' game on Thursday and I'm looking forward to it." Ritter believes his Tigers can win it all. "I think we can," Ritter said. "We have a lot of guys who did it last year. We realize it's a process and we have to take it one game at a time. We know what we can do and we believe in ourselves." In other playoff action in Division I, Granite Bay suffered a 3-2 loss to St. Mary's. The Grizzlies allowed single runs in the first three innings and only scored two themselves, once in the top of the third and the other time in the top of the fifth. Derek Asnicar had two hits and drove in a run, while the other run was knocked in by Isaac Schroeder. Drew Galbaugh pitched four innings and allowed three runs on six hits and also walked six batters and struck out seven. Ian Brooks pitched the last two innings for the Grizzlies. In Division 7, Valley Christian held an 8-3 lead going into the seventh inning, but Vacaville Christian scored eight runs to take an 11-8 lead. Valley Christian managed two runs to cut the lead to 11-10, but couldn't get anymore. Nine Valley Christian walks and eight errors didn't help them. Kurt Hasse had two hits and three RBIs, while Zach Pritchard also had two hits and Max Abbott had a hit and drove in two runs.