QUINCY--Good pitching, timely hitting and great defense. Just what you would expect during a Feather River-Butte College doubleheader.
A split isn't hard to believe either. And that's what happend on Thursday afternoon at the Eagles Nest. Feather River won the opener 5-4 and Butte took the nightcap 3-1 in a battle between two of best squads in the Golden Valley Conference.
The two teams will resume the series on Monday in Oroville, with a first pitch time of 2 pm. Feather River will head to the rubber match with a 19-5 overall record and a 9-2 mark in the GVC. Butte is now 17-10 on the season and 9-4 in conference play.
Andrew Lehmann's three-run homer in the seventh inning was the difference in the Golden Eagles win in the opener. FRC trailed 3-2 before Grant McGuire and Anthony Cepeda jumped started the inning with singles and Lehmann followed with a blast to give Feather River's pitching a comfort margin of 5-3.
Weston Russell and Will Page-Allen shut down the Roadrunners over the final three innings after Kyle Giovannoni started the contest. Giovannoni pitched 5.2 innings and allowed just four hits and two earned runs. Page-Allen earned his second save with a perfect ninth inning which included two strikeouts.
Earlier in the sixth, Jared Stevenson hit a solo shot. Lehmann had two hits in the game as did Zane Denton. FRC had nine base knocks against Roadrunner pitching.
The second game was scoreless until the top of the sixth when Butte finally got a run against FRC starter Tyler Stolfich. When Stolfich left with two outs in the sixth, he had allowed only three hits, no walks and he had fanned seven.
Meanwhile, FRC had their own issues with Butte hurler Shaw Lee. Lee shutout the Golden Eagles for eight innings, allowing just five hits. FRC had their best chance in the fourth when Shane Danley doubled and Denton singled, but they were both stranded. Feather River finally scratched across a run in the ninth on Rocco Crow's RBI-single, but the rally would end there.
Denton was 2-for-3 in the game, with a third of FRC's six total hits. Denton was 4-for-6 on the day.
