Roseville wins section straight section title

There's no doubt the team's goal for the 2026 season goes beyond the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs, but yet there was a sense of relief that overcame the Roseville Tigers baseball team after Saturday's 4-1 win over Central Catholic (24-8) in the Division 4 section championship game. With nine-plus players returning from last year's section championship team, the pressure was on the Tigers (27-4) all season, as they had a huge target on their back and expectations were high. After losing the Nor-Cal championship game by one run last year, that's been the team's main goal this season, but it's definitely nice to win another section championship. Ace pitcher Tyler Ritter pitched just like he has all season, as he allowed only one run on four hits and struck out 10, while Ethan Gustus came in to get the last out of the game. It wasn't as easy as it seemed. Ritter had a man on first when he left the game and Gustus gave up a double and then a walk, as Central Catholic had the game-tying run on first base and the game-winning run at the plate. Gustus, however, then got the strikeout he needed to close out the game. Roseville scored all four runs in the bottom of the third inning and they had some help from Central Catholic's defense. Kayden McHenry got the first two outs of the inning before Roseville put a rally together, starting with an infield hit from Jacob Welch. Ashton Chang then drew a walk before another infield hit from Devin Johnson loaded the bases. It appeared the Raiders would get out of the inning when Preston Cubbler hit a high pop fly around the pitcher's mound, as McHenry appeared to get underneath it. The wind, however, pushed it behind McHenry, who had to backtrack and eventually missed the ball completely, allowing Welch to score the game's first run. With the bases still loaded, up stepped Roseville freshman Brett Reagor. "To be honest, I was a little nervous," said Reagor, "but I used that to motivate myself. I had the crowd cheering behind me, and I had two strikes on me, so I was just looking to barrel it and put the ball in play and that's exactly what I did." Reagor hit a line drive to right field that Hudson Walker didn't take a good angle on and the ball flew over his head, as all three runs came into score and Reagor stood on second with a double and the Tigers had a 4-0 lead. "It felt great to get that hit and lead my team to victory," Reagor said. "It's been a great year; a great learning experience and it's been fun, especially to play with these boys. It's my first year here, but it seems like I've known all these guys for six years. We've created a great bond." Ritter walked the leadoff batter in the top of the fourth and eventually gave up a double to Marcus Davenport that scored the Raiders' lone run. "I was on a roller coaster with my energy today," Ritter said. "I had to lock in when I needed to and get out of some tough situations. My defense definitely helped me out today." That's all the runs either team scored, as the Tigers went on to win it 4-1. "I think any time you win a section title it's hard," Roseville manager Eli Garcia said. "Going into this year, I told them my favorite ring is the next one, that's a Tom Brady quote. Central Catholic battled and played a hell of a game. We knew it would be a touch match-up. To see us come through with a win was pretty huge." Ritter said it was no tougher to win the second section title than it was the first. "It felt the same," Ritter said. "I feel like we've been here before, but also there was pressure on our backs because we were the No. 1 seed and had a target on our backs. We rose to the occasion all playoffs long and we did again today." When asked what makes his team so special, Ritter said, "We all love each other. We've all been here before. We put our faith in each other and we know everyone is going to pick each other up."