Golden Eagles Cap Astonishing Comeback with 17-14 Win

MERCED--Just when you thought you had seen everything possible on a baseball diamond, this beautiful game offers something new.

Down 13-0 through five innings of play on Sunday afternoon at Merced College, Feather River rallied back for an improbable 17-14 victory to return home from their first road trip of the season with an even 2-2 record.

For veteran Feather River coach Terry Baumgartner, who has coached over 1,300 games at the collegiate level, coming back from a 13-0 deficit was a first.

"In my 34 years of coaching college baseball, I believe this is the first time one of my teams has come back from a 13-0 deficit," he said. "We have to give a lot of credit to our players for sticking with it and finding a way to put up runs, and then to our pitchers to finally throw up zeroes. It was a lot of fun to watch our young team come together and pull this one off for the Golden Eagles."

Heading into the top of the sixth inning, rallying back from 13 runs down was likely the last thing anyone expected to see. 

But the Golden Eagles started to get their bats untracked that inning. Christian Obos got the visitors on the board with a two-run homer and later in the inning Jackson Phillips followed with a three-run shot. 

Still, FRC still trailed 13-5 heading into the eighth inning. But Obos led off with another home run, and after a pair of Blue Devil errors, Phillips followed with a two-run double. 13 Feather River batters came to the plate, and after four hits and three errors later, they had scored seven times and made it a 13-12 contest. 

Carter Reilly's RBI single tied the game in the ninth, sending the contest into extras. Meanwhile, Dirty Bird relief pitchers Keller Bloodworth and Jack Rogers combined for three scoreless innings to keep Feather River in the game.

In the top of the tenth, FRC blew the game open. Phillips singled home a run and two batters later, Noah Carrington doubled home three Golden Eagles. Merced would get one run back in the bottom half of the inning, but would still be a field goal short in the 17-14 final. 

Phillips had a career game at the plate. He finished with six RBI on three hits, including a double and home run. Carrington had four hits with two doubles and drove in three. Nick Anderson and Obos had two hits each, with Obos going yard twice. In all, Feather River pounded out 17 hits. 

The Golden Eagles will try and keep the momentum rolling this coming weekend with a three-game series at American River College in Sacramento. The two squads will play single games on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.