Yuba City wins NorCal baseball D-II title; Roseville loses crusher in D-III
It was already a banner season for the Yuba City Honkers before the CIF Northern California Regional baseball playoffs even started.
The storied program was coming off of its first CIF Sac-Joaquin Section championship in 10 years heading into this week’s three-game, single-elimination NorCal bracket, and on Saturday afternoon, top-seeded Yuba City defeated No. 2 Saint Francis of Mountain View 3-2 to win the Division II championship.
There is no state final for baseball or softball, so this caps a remarkable season for the Honkers, who end the season with a 14-game winning streak and a 31-5 record. Saint Francis of the power-packed Central Coast Section finished 22-11.
Roseville was the only other Sacramento-area baseball team still in competition as the CIF capped its sports calendar. The Tigers lost at home in the D-III title game to Rancho Cotate of Rohnert Park.
Yuba City 3, Saint Francis 2
Max Guth, Ashton Decker and Brandon Pelechowicz each had an RBI, Julian Garcia and Cesar Guizar each had two hits, and Brody Miller and Brady Castaneda scored runs to power the Honkers.
Pelechowicz, the team ace and a Sacramento Beee Player of the Year candidate, tossed a complete-game four-hitter, allowing no earned runs and striking out two to cap his junior season with a 10-1 pitching record and a 1.36 ERA. Pelechowicz also led the team with a .473 batting average with 37 RBI, 10 doubles, six home runs and 44 runs scored.
Saint Francis finished 22-11.
Yuba City became the fourth Sacramento-area baseball team to win a NorCal crown since the CIF added that regional in 2022.
The other local NorCal champs: Oakmont in Division III in 2024; Sutter in 2023 in Division IV; Bradshaw Christian in 2022 and 2024 in Division IV; and Woodland Christian in Division V in 2024.
Rancho Cotate 2, Roseville 1
The Cougars of Sonoma County prevailed behind pitchers Jeff Derammelaere and Camden Henington, who combined to toss a two hitter with seven strikeouts.
There was a delay in the game for a bit to sort out if Henington had exceeded the allowed pitch count in a week and had adequate rest, per CIF rules to prevent pitching burnout and overuse. Henington was cleared and continued, and the Cougars won the program’s first NorCal banner in the sport.
Rancho Cotate finished 19-13 and Roseville 23-11. Roseville was coming off of its first section crown in 10 seasons.
▪ Complete brackets and scores for all divisions are available on the CIF State website.