QUINCY--It was a classic match-up between two conference champions with both of their aces taking the mound. All signs pointed to a 2-1 or 3-2 type game, with every single plate crossing mattering so very much. Right?
Well every run did matter, but the storyline was much different during a wild 10-inning victory for Feather River over Skyline College in a CCCAA Northern California Super Regional. There was scoring galore and drama to the maximum during the 12-10 series clincher on Saturday afternoon in Quincy.
After four hours and 9 minutes, the Golden Eagles were the winners, advancing to next weekend's Northern California Finals. There, they will take on the winner of Sunday's Ohlone vs. Los Medanos contest. Ohlone, the No. 1 ranked team in the state, won on Friday against Los Medanos but lost today forcing a winner-take-all contest on Sunday in Fremont.
Today in Quincy, there were several layers of craziness in a game that Feather River needed to clinch the series and Skyline needed to stay alive in front of a lively crowd of 369.
The Trojans scored six runs in the third inning and Feather River plated eight in the sixth just to highlight some of the crazy. The game also featured two five minute delays for umpires to discuss key calls, and it ended with one team's closer (FRC's Jake Christianson) inducing Skyline closer and big hitter Michael Sarhatt to fly out to left field with two runners on base.
Phew.
Feather River is now 36-9 in 2022 while Skyline closes its season at 32-10.
Over four hours earlier, Skyline ace Connor Hourigan (10-2) took the hill against Golden Eagle No. 1 starter Bridger Holmes (7-1). The first inning was scoreless, but FRC's Ryan Gray drove home the game's first run in the second and an Trojan error allowed another to score in the third inning to give Feather River a 2-0 lead.
The Trojans got those runs back and then some in the bottom of the third (Skyline was the home team per CCCAA playoff format). Holmes walked the first two hitters of the inning, and as the old baseball saying goes, that would come back to bite him and the Golden Eagles. 11 batters, five hits and six runs later, the Trojans had moved into the driver's seat and Holmes had left the game.
Skyline added two more runs in the fifth on Camron Grant's two-run homer to take a seemingly insurmountable 8-2 lead. But today, no lead was safe.
In the top of the sixth, early inning walks were also the undoing of Hourigan. With Hourigan out and runners on every bag, Cory McIntyre drove in two with a single and Ryan Blanchard brought home two more with a ground rule double. Cooper Thacker kept the rally going with a two-RBI single through the left side of the infield, and a wild pitch would soon bring in another run.
11 batters came to the plate for Feather River and despite just four hits, eight runners would cross home to give FRC a 10-8 lead.
Skyline got a digit back in their half of the sixth (10-9). That one-run lead would hold until the eighth when the Trojans scratched across a run on a bunt single, a wild pitch, another single and a sacrifice fly. No one scored in the ninth to send the 10-10 game to the tenth.
Both closers entered the game in the eighth and ninth innings respectively. In FRC's top of the tenth, Blanchard led off the inning with a double. After a walk and a botched play on a bunt, the bases were loaded with no one out.
FRC catcher Daniel Pruitt hit a sharp single to left to bring in the go-ahead run and Garret Damico walked with the bases juiced to make it 12-10. A ground ball double play ended the potential huge inning, but Feather River still had a two-run lead heading into the bottom half of the inning.
Facing the 2-3-4 hitters in the Skyline order, Christianson gave up a lead off single to Jeremy Keller. A fly ball got the first out on the board, bringing up clean-up hitter Max Coupe. Coupe hit a sinking liner to right field that Cooper Kitrel made a lunging effort at, seemingly making the catch on his shoe tops, and then firing to first base to double up Keller and end the game. But after a long conference between all three umpires, the call was overturned and ruled a single, with runners now on first and second with one out.
With new life, Skyline's Dominic Meza flew out but also advanced the Trojan runners to second and third. With the tying run on second base and the winning run at the plate, Christianson went to work against Sarhatt. With a 2-2 count, Christianson got Sarhatt to hit a fly ball to right field to end the long and dramatic contest.
FRC head coach Terry Baumgartner has coached in over 1,200 college games as a head coach and an assistant, but few have been this nuts.
"That game was one of the wildest," he said after the game. "And there was so much on the line. I am proud of the guys for hanging in there and always battling. We are excited to keep playing next weekend."
Feather River had 16 hits in the game, including five players with multiple base knocks. McIntryre had three hits including a double and Blanchard also had a trio of hits with two doubles. Kitrel, Thacker and Jake Madson had a pair of hits each.
Christianson picked up the win on the mound with his stellar effort of 2.2 innings pitched, two hits, no walks and a strikeout. He improved to 5-2 on the season.
Feather River's opponent will be determined via Sunday's contest between Ohlone and Los Medanos. That game begins at noon.
