SUTTER, CA (MPG) - The Sutter Huskies split their Pioneer Valley League series with the Colfax Falcons in a doubleheader as they lost 6-1 in game one and won 5-3 in extra innings of the second game on Friday, March 31.

It was a matchup of the top two teams in the PVL, and they played a double header due to the weather conditions raining the first game along with Colfax’s field being covered by snow for the time being.

It was ace versus ace in the first game as Sutter threw junior right hander Jagger Beck and Colfax had senior right hander Marcus Maeder.

Sutter (5-3, 5-1 PVL) struck the scoreboard first when Huskies junior shortstop Logan Yacavace scored off a throwing error that was hit by senior center fielder Matt McCall.

The Huskies had five hits in the first game combined off of Maeder, and they all came in the first three innings of the game. Along with his complete game thrown, Maeder threw 10 strikeouts.

Sutter had good approaches at the plate as they hit the ball hard throughout the game, but they just didn’t find their way into an empty spot on the field.

Huskies head coach Stewart Peterson told the Dispatch that Maeder was effective with moving his pitches around.

“He (Maeder) threw a lot of pitches for strikes, he didn’t fall into any patterns and got stronger as the game went on,” Peterson said.

Beck had a great first inning on the mound, but the second inning was an on and off inning for Beck. He threw 36 pitches in the second inning against Colfax and a little more than half of them were strikes.

Beck surrendered five runs in the second inning with one hit and gave up three walks.

Peterson said he kept Beck out there for the next couple of innings because he is a competitor and it was good to see him through the adversity of the next couple of innings.

Beck threw five innings where he gave up four hits and struck out three.

“I didn’t let it affect me, I focused on hitting the strike zone and never looked back to it,” Beck said.

He added that his fastball and slider were two of his pitches that were efficient in his pitching performance on the day.

Sutter responded in the second game of the double header with a 5-3 win in eight innings.

Peterson mentioned to the Dispatch that it was a back and forth affair between the two clubs.

Huskies senior pitcher Matt Lorentz started the game on the mound for Sutter and threw five solid innings where he gave up four hits, walked two and struck out three.

Lorentz left the game with a 3-2 lead as Yacavace and senior first baseman Brady Wickham both contributed two hits apiece.

“It was like a heavyweight fight between two good teams that didn’t want to give in,” Peterson said.

Colfax tied the game in the bottom of the seventh off Huskies junior reliever Kasey Combo.

Peterson told the Dispatch that Combo got out of a jam where the Falcons had runners on first and second with one out and he retired the second and third hitters of the Colfax lineup to send it into extra innings.

In the top of the eighth, Sutter senior catcher Landon Sable delivered an RBI single to give the Huskies the lead.

Peterson added that Sable’s alert base running helped give them the insurance run as he advanced to second on the throw home from his base but Sable stole third and scored due to the Falcons catcher overthrow the ball to third on the steak attempt.

Combo closed the door in the bottom of the eighth to seal the victory for the Huskies.

Sutter competed in the San Diego Lions tournament this past week which is widely known as a top tournament in California.

Peterson mentioned to the Dispatch with the Huskies winning their division in the tournament last year, they will be playing up a division.

He added that they are also going to be doing a lot of bonding activities down there that included going to a San Diego Padres game Monday evening, team dinners and will be heading to the beach as well.