BOX SCORES: GAME 1 | GAME 2 | GAME 3
Recap by Brendan Hamilton
TAFT, CA – It was not a day the Taft College Cougars Baseball Team had hoped for when the Feather River College Golden Eagles rolled into town for the season opener. The Cougars got off to a hot start, taking an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first as Ethan Kelly called his own shot on a first and third, successfully getting into a rundown, allowing leadoff batter Jesus Gonzalez to score. Taft continued to roll and added two more runs in the second inning with an Odnal Rivera double off the left field wall. However, Feather River came marching back and added 4 runs in the third, fifth and sixth innings to take the lead. Walks plagued the Cougars and Feather River added 3 more runs in the top of the eighth to expand the lead to 7-3. Jackson Berry responded in the bottom half of the eighth with a solo shot, but the Cougars were unable to mount a rally and the game ended with a final score of 7-4.
Saturday brought forth a fresh opportunity for the Cougars to bury the past and get the first win of the season. Once again, the day did not go according to plan for the Cougars as they dropped both games of the double header 10-7 and 13-6.
Game 1 of the double header started slow but exploded in the middle and later parts of the game. Feather River gained the lead in top of the fourth 4-0. Taft responded with a 7 run bottom half to take the lead 7-4 starting with a missile off the wall by Jesus Gonzalez. The Cougars kept going down the line getting contributions from Owen Hayes (who also doubled off the wall), Manny Esparza, and Odnal Rivera. Feather River remained steady and slowly chipped away at the Cougar lead getting 1 run in the sixth, 2 in the seventh, before putting up 4 in the ninth to take the lead. The Cougars were unable to mount a rally in the bottom of the ninth and the game ended 10-7.
Feather River rode the momentum into game number 2 of the double header starting the game with a solo shot. The Cougars quickly responded scoring 3 runs in the bottom of the second when Odnal Rivera reached on an error, plating 2, followed by a Yadriel Reyes single that scored 1 more, making the score 3-1. Feather River continued their roll and scored nine runs from the third to the sixth making the score 10-3. Jesus Gonzalez responded with a 3-run bomb making the game 10-6, but Taft was unable to continue the rally. In the latter innings the Golden Eagles tacked on 3 more to make the score 13-6. The game ended 13-6 with Feather River sweeping Taft in the opening weekend of the season.