TAFT--Feather River bats were on fire and the pitching was solid again during a pair of Golden Eagle victories over Taft College on Saturday afternoon at Cougar Field.
FRC rolled to 13-3 and 23-3 wins for 3-0 start to 2025 and a series sweep of the Cougars. The Golden Eagles pounded out 37 hits in the twinbill and scored 36 times for a perfect start to their first road trip of the spring.
Freshman Kory Chu and sophomore Anthony Cepeda were both 5-for-8 on the day, whith Chu driving in six runs. On the mound, FRC pitching allowed just eight total hits in the 17 innings played.
Feather River will try and continue their hot start today at Merced. Start time for the single game is 1 p.m.
In the first game of Saturday's doubleheader, FRC had ten different players with hits. After a scoreless first two innings, the visitors broke through for two runs in the third and then scored five in the fourth to break the game open. Chu went 3-for-5 with a double and three RBI and Cepeda was a perfect 4-for-4. Justin Robinson hit a home run and freshman Landon Sable also had a home run with a pair of hits and three RBI.
Kani Thomas was impressive in his first college start. The Poway native went five innings to get the win, allowing just two hits, one run and he fanned five.
In the second game, FRC's offense exploded for 23 and 21 hits. Seven of those runs crossed the plate in the fourth inning on eight hits, and the damage multiplied in the seventh inning with nine runs.
Dylan Marx had three hits and drove in three runs, Chu added a pair of hits and three more RBI and Zane Denton was 3-for-5 with two RBI and a triple. But the two biggest offensive stars were Grant McGuire and Jackson Phillips. McGuire went 4-for-4 with three runs drove in on a double and a triple. Phillips came into the game as the designated hitter in the seventh inning and walked, and then later in the stanza parked a grand slam for his first collegiate round tripper.
Three different pitchers threw in a bullpen outing, with Bradyn Schneider throwing the final three for the win. Schneider gave up just one hit and fanned two.
The 23 runs scored by the Golden Eagles was the most by an FRC team since the 2021 squad topped the College of the Redwoods, 26-0.
