QUINCY -- Just a week after upsetting Fresno City College, the top-ranked team in the state, West Valley baseball heads north east for a best-of-three series against the Feather River College Golden Eagles. Winners of the Golden Valley Conference and the fifth-seed in the North, Feather River has used its high-powered offense through the first two weekends of the 3C2A State Tournament to push to a North Final.
This season, the Golden Eagles have already faced two of West Valley's Coast-South opponents, Monterey Peninsula and Hartnell, while the other team they faced, American River, is the team that West Valley opened its regular season against. In their opening game of the postseason, the Golden Eagles narrowly escaped the Lobos, needing a five-run bottom of the ninth inning to come out on top. They were pushed to the brink of elimination in their next game, falling 24-9 to American River, before taking down the Beavers in back-to-back games to reach the Super Regional.
In that three-game set, Feather River took on a Hartnell team that has given the Vikings fits this season. In a trio of back-and-forth affairs, the Golden Eagles used clutch pitching and timely hitting to come out victorious. This season marks the first time that Feather River has reached the North Final since 2022, when Feather River headed to Fremont and lost in both games to Ohlone.
The Golden Eagles feature a very balanced offense with high-contact, high-patience hitters throughout the lineup. Even playing in high elevation, it's not a team that relies heavily on the longball, as only one Golden Eagle (Jackson Phillips) has more than five home runs. Instead, it's an offense predicated on reaching base. All but two qualified hitters have an on-base percentage north of .400. Arguably the Golden Eagles' best player, Walker DesRosier, has an absurd .531 OBP. As a team, the Golden Eagles have nearly as many walks (284) as strikeouts (296).
On the hill, Feather River is led by sophomore Jack Hanna. The right-hander is 6-1 with a 2.72 ERA this season, just a year removed from posting a 2.61 ERA in 38 innings as a freshman. In two postseason starts, Hanna has been solid -- no record, and eight runs allowed (but only three earned) over 10.1 innings.
Behind Hanna in the rotation is sophomore Tanner Hail, 4-2 with a 4.20 ERA and freshman Marcus Maeder, 6-2 with a 5.37 ERA. Jayden Andrade, a strikeout artist, and Carl Colavecchio, who has a 3.09 ERA, anchor the bullpen.
Across from them in the visiting dugout, the Vikings come in red hot, winners of five straight games after the upset of Fresno City. The story of the postseason for the Vikings has been the offense. Since being held to just four runs in the opening game of the playoffs, the West Valley offense has averaged 13 runs per game, including a 22-run performance against Skyline. Led by West Valley Male Athlete of the Year David Estrada, Coast-South Big Stick Winner Parker Kristall and the thunderous power of Jordan Montez, West Valley reached its single-season high of 67 home runs in the opener against Fresno City.
However, it's been the bottom of the lineup that's done a ton of damage for West Valley. After starting just three regular season games, freshman center fielder AJ Ljepava is 6-for-26 with two doubles and a handful of big hits in the postseason. Second baseman Kenji Colston is 9-of-22 with three homers and three doubles over his last five. And ninth-place hitter Max Ghiglieri has three taters of his own rounding out the West Valley lineup.
After reaching the 3C2A State Final in each of the last two seasons, expectations are sky-high for West Valley heading into this years' regional final. Game one starts Friday afternoon at Quincy, with first pitch scheduled for 2:00 PM.