Skyline’s long and winding road comes to end

But it was the landslide sixth inning that will undoubtedly haunt the Trojans. Skyline went into the sixth with an 8-2 lead and the Coast Conference North’s wins and ERA leader, Conor Hourigan, on the mound. But four different Skyline pitchers ultimately threw in the inning as Feather River rallied for an 8-spot to take a 10-8 lead.

“Conor was our ace all year long, so it was probably on me running him out there too long,” Trojans manager Tony Brunicardi said. “But he’s been our guy. So, he deserved the opportunity.”

Hourigan finished with 5 1/3 inning pitched, surrendering five runs (four earned) on six hits. But the next two arms Skyline turned to — Levi Stubbles and Hayden Friedland — didn’t record an out.

In 13 previous innings of relief this season, the hard-throwing Stubbles had allowed just one run on five hits. The freshman was charged with two runs on two hits Saturday.

“He just didn’t have the command he usually has,” Brunicardi said. “That happens. But it was unfortunate it happened in that spot. But Levi was a bulldog for us all season long.”

The Trojans swung their way back to a tie ballgame though. Their six-run third inning way highlighted by a two-run double from Max Coupe and a two-run home run by Cam Grant. Michael Sarhatt also had an RBI single in the big inning, and the freshman first baseman went on to produce a pair of sacrifice flies, one in the bottom of the sixth and another in the eighth to tie it.

With Skyline turning to Sarhatt — also the team’s closer — in the ninth, the big right-hander got touched for two runs in the top of the 10th, which proved to be the difference. The freshman had pitched more than one inning just two previous times this season.

“I’ve tried to do that as little as possible with him,” Brunicardi said. “But … we were in that situation where we had to.”

Brunicardi turned to Sarhatt in the top of the ninth. Balch ran into trouble, allowing a one-out double to Cory McIntyre then wild pitching him to third. So, Brunicardi made the pitching change amid a 10-10 tie. Then things got a little weird.

When Brunicardi made the pitching change, Feather River’s Cooper Kitrel was in the middle of an at-bat, but the wild pitch necessitated a pitching change, Brunicardi said. Feather River manager Terry Baumgartner correctly protested, however, as prior to Kitrel’s at-bat starting, Skyline pitching coach Marcus Pointer made a mound visit. By rule, the pitcher must then complete the next at-bat before a pitching change is allowed.

Skyline avoided further confusion by issuing an intentional walk to Kitrel, allowing Sarhatt to start his outing with runners on the corners and one out. Sarhatt proceeded to induce a groundball to third baseman Dominic Meza, who threw home to cut down the lead runner; then Skyline caught Kitrel trying to advance from first to third on the play for the third out of the inning.

After Feather River took the lead in the top of the 10th, another strange moment occurred on a play that seemed to end the Trojans’ season. After a leadoff single by Jeremy Keller, Coupe stepped to the plate with one out and hit a sinking line drive to right. Kitrel in right made a diving attempt and gloved the ball, but the two field umpires made different calls, with the second-base ump making an out sign, while the first-base umpire ruled the ball trapped and called it safe.

Keller got caught between first and second amid the umpire miscommunication and Kitrel threw to first base to seemingly double him up. But as the Feather River team started to run onto the field to celebrate, home-plate umpire Mike Carr intervened and the umpire crew ultimately ruled the ball was trapped, awarding Keller second base and Coupe first.

“They were very, very weird situations,” Brunicardi said. “And to have them pop up in the same game was really weird.”

Skyline’s season would end two batters later though. The two baserunners tagged up on a flyout by Meza. But that’s as far as they’d advance, as Sarhatt followed with a flyout to right to end it.

“I’m going to be honest, I thought the vibe and the energy in the dugout was phenomenal all the way through the game, through the downs and the ups,” Brunicardi said. “They came in with that purpose and a really gritty intensity and that lasted into the 10th inning. They just got the best of us.”

The year ends with the Trojans having posted a 32-10 record while advancing to the second round of the California Community College baseball playoffs for the first time since 2004. Brunicardi, in his first year as a collegiate manager, was named Coast Conference Coach of the Year.

But the elimination loss marks the end of an era for Skyline, with many of its players having been in the program since prior to the COVID pandemic of 2020. Brunicardi said as many as 15 players, despite most of them being freshmen athletically, will now transfer out of the program. Brunicardi said he expects only two players from Saturday’s starting nine to return to Skyline next season.

“For this group that had such a special run, for the COVID 2020 season that got cut short, and then this one, yes,” Brunicardi said. “But it’s going to be a retooling. I do like the group we have returning … and hopefully we can get some guys. We have to get some pieces. But I think we’re going to be really, really good again next year.”

By virtue of Feather River’s sweep — having also defeated Skyline 8-6 in Friday’s series opener — the Golden Eagles now advance to the Elite 8 round of the CCCAA playoffs. They will face No. 1 Ohlone College in Fremont in a three-game series starting Friday. The winner of that series will advance to the CCCAA State Championship tournament starting Friday, May 28 at Folsom Lake College.