Roseville caps near-perfect season with NorCal baseball title

With 30 wins and Foothill Valley League, Sac-Joaquin Section and CIF Regional Northern California championships, Roseville was a team of destiny this year. The Tigers avenged last year's 2-1 loss to Rancho Cotate in the NorCal Division III championship game by winning the title this year, beating Menlo School 4-2 on Saturday. Roseville finished the season with a 30-4 record. Every decision made by Roseville coach Eli Garcia paid off, including arguably the most important one, to start Austin Chang on the mound. Chang, a senior who had only pitched 22 2/3 innings all year and hadn't pitched in six weeks, wasn't in the game long. He threw only 2 2/3 innings but left with a 3-2 lead and gave his team a chance to win. "I was thinking that I might be chosen to start, but I didn't know for sure until (Saturday), when Coach said I had a job to do and that's when I knew," Chang said. "I was a little nervous in the first inning and it showed, but I eased into it. Once I got the strikeout to end the second inning, I felt better. I trusted my teammates and they did a good job of backing me up and I got the job done." Said Garcia, "I've got 1,000-percent confidence in Austin Chang. He pitched his tail off. Everyone talks about Tyler (Ritter) going to Davis and Ethan (Gustus) going to Vandy, but Austin is going to Sac City and that's a pretty prestigious JC. A lot of kids come out of there and Austin has a bright future in this game. "Right after Austin came out, Dustin (Holcomb) came in and he gave one of the most legendary performances." Back to the top of the first inning, an error on Preston Cobbler put Menlo leadoff hitter Zach Roeder on first base and an error on a pickoff attempt by Chang moved Roeder to second before a hit by Jack Freehill drove in the run. But that's all Chang gave up in the inning, as Menlo left a runner stranded on third. Roseville had an electric bottom half of the inning. Justin Fischer led off with a single to center field and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Jacob Welch before Ben Jordan hit a two-run home run. Garcia's decision to start Austin Chang on the mound led him to make another tweak to the starting lineup, as Chang's twin brother, Ashton, started behind the plate while regular catcher Devin Johnson started in right field. That decision quickly paid off in the second inning. With one out, Menlo's Renner Barnett singled to right field and when he tried to stretch the hit to a double, Johnson gunned him down at second. That out allowed Austin Chang to have a 1-2-3 inning. Roseville added a run in the bottom of the second on a homerby Cubbler and nearly hit another but Johnson was robbed on a leaping catch by left fielder William Larson. Menlo received a clutch two-out RBI single by Chuck Wynn in the top of the third to cut Roseville's lead to 3-2, chasing Chang. Reliever Dustin Holcomb had runners on in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings but left unscathed thanks to a double play in the fourth (Cobbler to Fischer to Wolfe), a strikeout in the fifth and an exceptional diving catch by Ashton Chang in left field in the sixth, followed by another huge strikeout by Holcomb with runners at the corners. "We had an error in center field; it happens," Holcomb said. "I just really tried to push through with the mindset of just focusing on the next pitch and the next batter and executing my pitches." Roseville scored an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth on its third homer of the game, a solo blast by Ashton Chang. Roseville ace Ritter relieved in the seventh and recorded the last three outs of the game. "I've come in relief a few times this season, against Placer and Twelve Bridges, so that was good preparation for today," Ritter said. "I was ready and my arm felt fine." After that, the celebration started. "The amount of toughness this group had this year was just unmatched," Garcia said. "I truly believe, and I mean this with a straight face, we were the best team in California. I think Tyler Ritter is undoubtedly the best pitcher in California, and I think Ethan Gustus is the second-best pitcher. I don't think there were two pitchers in the state that were better and I don't think there was a team that was better." "Last year's team was different from this year's team, but this year, we all had the same goal in mind and that was to win the NorCal championship and we did," said Austin Chang. Roseville Principal Ashley Serin, who followed the team throughout the playoffs, was excited after the team's win. "This is absolutely incredible," Serin said. "What a way to close out the class of 2026. These guys are phenomenal. I am seriously going to miss watching them play. This was so good." Roseville's team wasn't just good on the field but also in the classroom, as the Tigers had the highest grade-point average of any other baseball team in the section. "Obviously, it's a great feat," Garcia said. "It goes to show the kind of character the players have and how much they care about being a student first and an athlete second. Obviously, our high school has done a really good job, all the teachers, the staff and faculty, of pushing being a student first and that's an award that's super awesome and we're proud of it."