QUINCY--Jerry Thomas put an end to a back and forth game with a single through the left side to bring home Cory McIntyre with the winning run in the bottom of the tenth inning to lead Feather River College past Shasta College, 10-9 on Friday afternoon.
Thomas' game-winning hit ended a contest that lasted nearly four hours and preserved FRC's top spot in the Golden Valley Conference. The Golden Eagles improved to 15-1 in conference play and they are 24-7 overall. The Knights fell to 9-20 on the season and to 4-12 in the GVC.
The two teams will play again on Saturday, this time with a noon doubleheader at The Nest. The No. 4 regionally ranked Golden Eagles are now 7-0 this season in Quincy.
Thomas ended a game with plenty of drama, but a one-run game between the squads isn't unusual in 2022. On March 4 and 5 in Shasta, Feather River won narrow 7-6 and 5-4 outings against the Knights.
This game looked a bit different than those two contests. The Golden Eagles and Knights combined for 19 runs, 29 hits and 10 errors, and there were nine lead changes in the long affair.
Cooper Thacker and Jake Madson doubled home runs in the third inning to give the home team its first lead, but the Knights countered with five runs in the top of the fourth to claim a 6-2 advantage. FRC's Cory McIntyre doubled home a run in the fourth and chased two more across the plate in the fifth to tie the game at 7-7.
Shasta regained the lead in the seventh (8-7), but FRC tied it in the eighth. Shasta would move back in front in the top of the ninth against Golden Eagle closer Jake Christianson but his team would keep the game alive in the bottom of the ninth with an unearned run to tie it, 9-9.
Christianson remained in the contest and fanned two Knight batters and held them scoreless in the top of the tenth. In the bottom of half of the inning, with the game now heading towards for four hours, McIntyre continued his red hot day with a one-out single and then stole second base. After Cooper Kitrel walked, Thomas ended the day with the ground ball through the 5.5 hole allowing McIntyre to score easily from second base.
McIntyre had three hits (3-6), scored twice and drove in three runs to lead the 16-hit attack. Five other Golden Eagle players had a pair of hits each--Ryan Blanchard, Mohi Kahui, Madson, Daniel Pruitt and Eric Romero. Christianson claimed the win on the mound.
Prior to Christianson, Scott Lewis pitched 4.2 very effective innings of relief, allowing four hits and no earned runs. Lewis didn't walk a batter and fanned a pair of Knights. Three Golden Eagle pitchers had to work around a season-high seven errors on defense.
