Home Openers, First GVC Games This Weekend
QUINCY--After three long weekends of travel and 12 non-conference games, Feather River College baseball fans will finally get to see their team in action this weekend.
The Golden Eagles will begin Golden Valley Conference play by hosting the College of the Siskiyous on Friday (2 pm) and Saturday (Noon DH). FRC will bring a 7-5 non-conference record to the series, while the Eagles are 6-6.
"Our guys are definitely excited about playing at home this weekend," said FRC head coach Terry Baumgartner. "It has been a long four weeks of bus rides so they are very excited to sleep in their own beds and play some games at home."
In three separate trips over the last four weekends, Baumgartner has learned a few things about his 2022 team. For one, they can hit.
The Golden Eagles have averaged just over nine runs scored per game and have a robust team batting average of .303. Veteran Jerry Thomas has a .444 average, a team-best 15 runs scored and is tied for the club lead in home runs (3) and RBI (14). Nainoa Kane-Yates also has three home runs and 14 RBI (.306 average), and Cooper Kitrel checks in with a .485 average. Other players with close to at least 30 at-bats that are hitting over .300 include Cooper Thacker (.318), Ryan Blanchard (.333) and Cory McIntyre (.310). Thacker also leads the team with four stolen bases for a squad that has 20 thefts in a dozen games.
On the mound, the team ERA is higher than he would like (5.45), but there have been some bright spots for sure. Koby Roberts is 2-0 with 10 strikeouts in 7.1 innings of work, and Bridger Holmes has fanned 11 batters in 7.2 innings. Among those with at least six innings on the hill, Drew Baumgartner has tossed 6.1 stanzas with only four hits, ten strikeouts and a 1.42 ERA.
In all, Coach Baumgartner has run 18 different pitchers out to the mound in the young season.
"Through our first 12 games, our offense has been pretty consistent, as has our pitching staff," said Baumgartner, who is in his 15th season at Feather River. "The biggest surprise has been our inconsistent play on defense (40 errors). We are going to get better defensively and we showed some promise the last two games. I feel like we could have won a couple more games but I am happy with our record at this point. As long as we find a way to compete each game and come together as a team then we have a chance to be pretty good the rest of the way."
The weekend series against College of the Siskiyous is just the beginning of a challenging conference schedule. After a brief dive back into non-conference action on Monday at Los Medanos, the Golden Eagles return home the following weekend (March 4-5) to host Shasta College in another conference three-game slate.
"Our pre-season schedule is really tough and it is designed that way so our guys our challenged daily," said Baumgartner, whose career record at Feather River is now 410-158. "The GVC schedule is really tough and we get each team's best shot every game.
"I think the teams to beat from what we have seen in the pre-season are Butte and Lassen, but our conference as a whole has played really well this preseason. I believe this could be the most wins we have seen in my 15 years as a group in the GVC during the preseason. As long as we continue to improve though we hope to be one of the top teams at the end of GVC play."
There is no place like home for the Golden Eagles, where they have laid their cornerstone to win 12 of the last 13 GVC titles that were available (there was no postseason in 2020 or 2021).
"I know the local fans are excited to be able to catch some Golden Eagle baseball," Baumgartner concluded. "We have one of the best home field advantages in California with the fan support we receive from the local community. We also have one of the best college baseball facilities in the country with a great back drop of the mountains and our outstanding playing surface."