Late Bursts Lift Golden Eagles Past Beavers, 10-3

SACRAMENTO--Visiting Feather River broke open a 3-3 tie with four runs in the eighth and three more in the ninth to race past host American River CC on Friday afternoon, 10-3.

The Golden Eagles evened their record at 3-3 with the victory, while the Beavers dropped to 1-4. FRC will play two more on Saturday to wrap up this four-game trip, taking on Sierra at noon and then squaring off with Sacramento City at 5 pm.

Abiel Gonzalez had a pinch-hit two-run double and Daniel Pruitt drove in another run with a single in the top of ninth inning to close the door on the Beavers. One inning earlier, the Golden Eagles took advantage of three American River errors, two wild pitches, a walk, and a hit batter to help plate four runs to start to pull away. 

Meanwhile FRC hurler Dakota Todd pitched nearly three perfect innings in relief to gain the win (1-0). He allowed just two hits, no runs and fanned two.

The visitors had 16 hits on the day, including three by Jake Madson. The infielder also scored twice and drove home a pair of runs. Cooper Kitrel also had a trio of hits, while Cooper Thacker, Jerry Thomas and Braden Thomson had two hits each. The Golden Eagles had just two extra base hits in the game, both doubles by Gonzalez and Thomas.

In addition to Todd's sparkling relief effort, two others were effective on the mound for the Golden Eagles. Starter Bridger Holmes with three innings and gave up four hits, one earned run, walked two and struck out four. Drew Baumgartner came on in middle relief for three innings as well, giving up only two hits, no earned runs and struck out three.

For the Golden Eagles, who had dropped two straight games by a heartbreaking one run each, it was good to get back on the winning track. "We needed that one," said head coach Terry Baumgartner. "It was good to break open a tight game after losing a pair of tough games. All these games prior to our conference season help get us ready for the grind of the Golden Valley Conference."