Feather River Faces No. 1 Renegades in NorCal Finals

May 18, 2022

QUINCY--To be the best, you have to beat the best, right?

The Feather River College baseball team will get that opportunity this weekend at the CCCAA Northern California Championships when they take on No. 1 state ranked Ohlone College. The best two-of-three series begins on Friday in Fremont at 11 am and continues Saturday at 1 pm. The Sunday game, if needed, starts at noon.

The reward for the winner is advancement to the four-team state championship in Folsom, May 28-30. The top two teams from the North and the top two from the South will qualify.

The Golden Eagles advanced to this point in the season by winning the Golden Valley Conference title and a three-game series victory over Cosumnes River. Last weekend, they triumphed over Skyline, which included a wild 12-10 ten-inning victory to clinch.

"That second game was one of the craziest games I have been a part of and it feels good to end up on the positive end of the craziness," said FRC head coach Terry Baumgartner. "Playing at home helped, we had great crowds and great weather. We don't get many games to play at home so we like to take advantage of it when it happens. Last weekend definitely played a part in our success by being at home."

To continue an already highly successful season, Baumgartner's team will have to top the No. 1 ranked team in the state, on Ohlone's field.

The Ohlone College Renegades are 42-4 on the year and went an outstanding 20-0 to win the Coast South Conference. They were 20-2 in Fremont in winning their fourth consecutive league title and fourth straight Super Regional contest. The Renegades have a deep and successful baseball history, which includes winning a state title in 2010 and advancing to the Final Four in 2011.

In 2022, they are hitting .321 as a team and lead every offensive category in their conference. That includes a stunning 152 stolen bases in 46 games and 52 home runs.

Third baseman Jeter Ybarra led the Coast South with a .443 batting average and also paced the league with 68 RBI. First baseman Mykanthony Valdez led the league with 10 home runs and drove in 45 runs, while Takumi Maeno hit .382 with 16 stolen bases. Fellow outfielder Damian Stone stole a conference high 49 bases and scored 53 runs.

On the mound, Ohlone has three solid starting pitchers. Max Gonzales is 11-0 with a 3.32 ERA, while Ethan Foley checks in at 8-2 and a 2.50 ERA. Foley has 87 strikeouts in 79 innings pitched. Sean Fekete rounds out the impressive rotation with a 7-1 record and 2.48 ERA.

"This weekend will be a very tough challenge for our players and coaches as we face the #1 team in the state," Baumgartner said. "Ohlone has a great program with a lot of very good players and their coaching staff does an outstanding job year in and year out. Ohlone likes playing on their home turf so we will have our work cut out for us every game. They are always one of the top teams in the North and the state. Our guys are very excited about the opportunity to play against them."

Baumgartner's team comes into the CCCAA Northern California finals with a 36-9 record. Feather River won the Golden Valley Conference title with a 23-2 record, their 12th championship in 15 seasons under Baumgartner. Not counting the pandemic seasons of 2020 and 2021, Feather River has advanced to the postseason 21 consecutive years. This is their first trip to the Northern California finals since 2015.

The No. 10 ranked Golden Eagles have a team batting average of .319 and have stolen 109 bases in 45 games, fifth most in the whole CCCAA. First baseman Jerry Thomas was named the GVC MVP, hitting .396 with 43 RBI, 10 home runs, 12 doubles and a .555 on-base percentage. Cooper Kitrel checks in with a .388 average, Ryan Blanchard has 42 RBI, 15 doubles and a .363 average and Cory McIntyre bats .360 with 15 stolen baes.

Bridger Holmes (7-0, 3.07 ERA) and Dylan Cabral (7-3, 3.50 ERA) provide a 1-2 starting pitching punch, while Jake Christianson is the closer with eight saves, a 5-2 record and a 1.69 ERA. He has fanned 54 batters in 37 innings pitched.

It's interesting to think back and realize that the Golden Eagles were at one point 3-4 this season and were at 5-5 before catching fire.

"I had a good feeling about our club early, even when we struggled at first because I knew once we put it all together we could be a dangerous team," the veteran coach said. "It is always nice for us to win the GVC title as that is always our first team goal of every season. As the season has gone on I believe our pitching staff has really developed more than any other part of our club. A lot of young guys have really stepped up and provided us with quality innings during crunch time. The credit goes to my coaching staff for developing these players and helping put us in the position to continue playing deep in May."

Just eight teams remain in the CCCAA postseason chase. In addition to the Ohlone-Feather River games this weekend, the other Northern California clash features San Joaquin Delta versus Folsom Lake. The Southern California games are Saddleback versus Palomar and Riverside against Glendale.

Golden Eagle fans can follow the action on the Ohlone website at 2021-22 Ohlone Baseball Schedule - Ohlone College (ohloneathletics.com).