High school baseball playoffs: Tyler Ritter leads Roseville in semifinal win
Tyler Ritter is a team-first guy, and he will tell you that the success of the Roseville Tigers baseball program goes well beyond what he does on the pitching mound.
Fair enough, but the 6-foot-1, 205-pound Ritter is a lightning bolt of a starting point for the top-seeded team in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV playoffs. In brief, when Ritter starts on the mound, good things happen for Roseville.
The UC Davis-bound senior ace was up to his old tricks Tuesday afternoon in Placer County, firing a two-hitter with 10 strikeouts and allowing just one walk to key an 8-0 victory over East Union of Manteca in Game 1 of a best-of-three semifinal series.
Ritter improved to 9-0 this season with a sparkling ERA under 0.70 with a lot left in the tank. He unleashed just 73 pitches on Tuesday. The Tigers smacked 12 hits: three by leadoff hitter Justin Fischer, two by No. 3 man Jacob Welch, two by six-hitter Aston Chang and two by No. 9 hitter and brother Austin Chang.
Benjamin Jordan and Austin Chang each had two RBIs, and the defending section champion Tigers extended their winning streak to nine in moving to 25-4 on the season.
“They’re great,” Ritter said of his teammates. “It really helps me get in the zone when I know my team is making plays behind me. Ashton Chang robbed someone of a home run, so that helps.”
A 4.0-GPA student, Ritter uses his fastball to set up his curve and slider, and when he’s in a groove, he’s tough to handle. But he does not dwell on statistics and his ERA.
“I feel good, but I try not to think about it,” Ritter said. “I’ll give myself a moment the next day on the game I had, but I have to move on. Have to flush it, win or lose.”
Roseville can win the series on Thursday in Manteca with a victory, and the Tigers like their chances with their other ace in Ethan Gustus, the Vanderbilt-bound junior who is 5-1 with a 1.58 ERA. Game 3, if needed, would be Friday at Roseville.
On Gustus, Ritter said, “He’s a real competitor. He does so many things well, a really good off-speed pitch. He’s a great pitcher, and we all root and cheer for everyone.”
Ritter added, “We’ve got a great thing going at Roseville. There’s no animosity. We’re all playing for each other. We love each other. We play hard for each other, for our school and for the community.”
The lineups for Roseville and East Union included those who remembered each other well from Thanksgiving weekend, when the Tigers used a late field goal by Austin Chang at Hughes Stadium to win a section football championship, the first for the program since 1987. Roseville’s roster includes several football players, as does East Union, including leadoff man Jackson Fay, a star receiver committed to UC Davis who had a hit off Ritter on Tuesday.
CIF Sac-Joaquin Section baseball semifinals
Best two-of-three; Game 2 is Thursday.
Division I
St. Mary’s 3, Granite Bay 2
Franklin 4, McClatchy 1
Division II
Elk Grove 8, Jesuit 2
Rodriguez 6, Laguna Creek 5
Division III
Rio Americano 3, Christian Brothers 2
El Capitan 3, Manteca 0
Division IV
Roseville 8, East Union 0
Del Campo 9, Central Catholic 2
Division V
Wheatland 3, Escalon 1
Woodland 6, Sutter 2
Division VI
Colfax 10, Ripon Christian 4
Amador 9, Bear River 3
Division VII
Vacaville Christian 11, Valley Christian 10
Turlock Christian vs. Big Valley, late