{"id":325817,"date":"2026-05-21T06:23:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T06:23:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/325817\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T06:23:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T06:23:15","slug":"hs-baseball-rio-americano-wins-cif-d-iii-title-in-sacramento","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/325817\/","title":{"rendered":"HS baseball: Rio Americano wins CIF D-III title in Sacramento"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Rio<\/p>\n

Rio Americano Raiders Everett Filippo, left, Conor Flynn (6), Braden Leu (7) and Luke Rolli (23) celebrate their CIF Sac-Joaquin Division III baseball championship win against the El Capitan Gauchos after the final out at Sacramento City College on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

NATHANIEL LEVINE<\/p>\n

nlevine@sacbee.com<\/p>\n

On the eve of the high school baseball playoffs, the Rio Americano Raiders honored their past.<\/p>\n

Athletes from the program\u2019s 1996 CIF Sac-Joaquin Section championship team attended a game, appreciated the gift of a blue banner, and were invited to stick around for more fun.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday night at Sacramento City College\u2019s Union Stadium, scores of alums soaked in the scene along with a festive gathering of family, students and fans as the top-seeded Raiders beat El Capitan of Merced, 3-0, to win the Division III championship, the program\u2019s first since that famed group 30 years ago.<\/p>\n

The 1996 club was coached by Rusty McLain. The Raiders play home games at Jerry Kaesar field, named after the founding coach of the San Juan Unified School District campus that opened in 1963. Kaesar\u2019s best teams were in 1978, 1984 and 1987, and Rio had teams in 2022 and 2023 under coach Kenny Munguia that reached section title games, only to fall to Granite Bay of Placer County.<\/p>\n

Under first-year coach Jason Landreth and a staff of former players, Rio Americano excelled again behind its trademark stout pitching and superb defense. Trey Howell-Chase, the team\u2019s star shortstop and leading hitter, singled to left in the second inning to score Luke Rolli for a 2-0 lead. Rolli scored Austin Nye with a line drive to centerfield in the same inning for a 1-0 lead.<\/p>\n

\"Rio Rio Americano Raiders shortstop Trey Howell-Chase slides into third base for a triple in the fifth inning against the El Capitan Gauchos in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division III baseball championship game at Sacramento City College on Wednesday. NATHANIEL LEVINE nlevine@sacbee.com <\/p>\n

In the fifth, Howell-Chase scored on Everett Fillipo\u2019s sacrifice fly to center. Howell-Chase got on with a triple. Joey Dormann earned the win in pitching five innings of one-hit ball. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound junior walked two and struck out two to improve his season record to 10-0.<\/p>\n

Conor Flynn pitched two innings of relief, allowing one hit and no walks as the Raiders halted El Capitan\u2019s 14-game winning streak while improving to 27-6. Both teams advance to CIF Northern California Regional playoffs.<\/p>\n

\"Rio Rio Americano Raiders pitcher Joey Dormann throws against the El Capitan Gauchos in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division III baseball championship game at Sacramento City College on Wednesday. Dormann earned the win in pitching five innings of one-hit ball. NATHANIEL LEVINE nlevine@sacbee.com Landreth leads the charge<\/p>\n

Landreth played baseball at Christian Brothers High in Sacramento and later at American River College.<\/p>\n

Life wasn\u2019t always easy growing up in the city, he said, and coaching baseball allows him an opportunity to mentor young lives. On the back of his shirt and those of players during workouts and fans in the stands, there\u2019s a Rio saying: \u201cHow are you feeling? I\u2019m Feeling Dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Raiders play the part of dangerous, wielding big bats and playing fundamental, clean baseball.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been an incredible run,\u201d Landreth said. \u201cThe guys keep throwing strike after strike. We only had 50 walks leading into the game, and it\u2019s testament to all the hard work. We\u2019ve got 13 seniors and a few juniors. They all bought in from Day 1.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for his role, the coach said, \u201cI just love the game. I\u2019ve been in this game 35 years now at college or pro level, and I\u2019m at the high school level now. I love to compete. I love trying to lead young men, and having them be the best humans possible, and just team them life lessons using the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The The Rio Americano Raiders, led by first-year coach Jason Landreth, kneeling far right, celebrate their CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division III baseball championship win over El Capitan at Sacramento City College on Wednesday. NATHANIEL LEVINE nlevine@sacbee.com Chase-Howell is nephew of ex-MLB pitcher<\/p>\n

Howell-Chase is bating .491 and designated hitter George Landis is hitting .407. Center fielder Bryce Kurihara has a team-high 28 runs batted in, followed by Howell-Chase with 27 and Fillipo with 21.<\/p>\n

Howell-Chase is a junior, a three-sport athlete who has a 3.87 GPA at a school big on academic standing. His uncle can speak of high school baseball success, as J.P. Howell still ranks as an all-time Sacramento-area great as a hard-throwing left-handed pitcher who starred for the Jesuit Marauders.<\/p>\n

Howell won The Sacramento Bee\u2019s Player of the Year honors in 2001 when he went 10-0 on the mound with a remarkable 0.09 ERA, and he pitched in the Major Leagues from 2005 to 2017. Howell attended the title game at Union Stadium, and his nephew expected him to pick up the tab for a steak dinner.<\/p>\n

Howell-Chase said the Raiders are a close-knit bunch in part because a lot of them grew up together and played Little League. And then Landreth molded them into a title team.<\/p>\n

\"Rio Rio Americano Raiders shortstop Trey Howell-Chase celebrates after sliding into third base for a triple in the fifth inning against the El Capitan Gauchos in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division III baseball championship game at Sacramento City College on Wednesday. NATHANIEL LEVINE nlevine@sacbee.com <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s changed the program,\u201d he said of Landreth. \u201cWe didn\u2019t know what to expect this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Howell-Chase said the Raiders marvel at the weight-lifting prowess of their thick-bodied coach, who looks like he could toss beer kegs over high fences or work as a bouncer in a biker bar in the bad part of town.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s always looking out for us,\u201d Chase-Howell said. \u201cHe truly loves each one of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

El Capitan entered as the No. 7 seed but punched well above that in the playoffs. Winners of the Central California Conference, the Gauchos (25-8) shut out eight of their previous nine teams and allowed two runs in two other games in that stretch. This was the second title game appearance for El Capitan, which opened in 2013. The Gauchos lost to Lincoln of Placer County in the 2016 section finals.<\/p>\n

Aidan Witt and Angel Rivera had El Capitan\u2019s two hits, and Zach Hunter was admirable in defeat as the pitcher allowed six hits, walking one and striking out six.<\/p>\n

This story was originally published May 20, 2026 at 9:23 PM.<\/p>\n

Related Stories from Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Joe Davidson<\/a><\/p>\n

The Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n

Joe Davidson has covered sports for The Sacramento Bee since 1989: preps, colleges, Kings and features. He was in early 2024 named the National Sports Media Association Sports Writer of the Year for California and he was in the fall of 2024 inducted into the California High School Football Hall of Fame. He is a 14-time award winner from the California Prep Sports Writer Association. In 2021, he was honored with the CIF Distinguished Service award. He is a member of the California Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Davidson participated in football and track in Oregon.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rio Americano Raiders Everett Filippo, left, Conor Flynn (6), Braden Leu (7) and Luke Rolli (23) celebrate their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":325818,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[121,123,122],"class_list":["post-325817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=325817"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325817\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/325818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=325817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=325817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=325817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}