Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 DINWIDDIE, Va. --- The Golden Eagle baseball team opened their 2023 season with a pair of neutral site games on Saturday afternoon, falling by scores of 4-3 and 6-4 to West Chester in the first doubleheader of the year. The games were defined by lead changes and clutch hits on both sides, but the Golden Eagles drew the short end of the stick in both instances.

Game 1: West Chester 4, Clarion 3
Recap: The game was dominated by the starting pitchers for the most part, with neither side developing much in the way of consistent offense early on. The Golden Rams did manage to score two runs off Clarion's Michael Proios in the third inning, coming across on a sacrifice fly and a passed ball to make it 2-0.
 
The Golden Eagles finally broke through in the top of the sixth inning, and it happened as a result of a pair of solo home runs. Scott McManamon led off the inning with his first bomb of the season, smoking a line drive shot to center field that cleared the fence to cut West Chester's lead in half. Two batters later, Sam Felner – one of the newest members of the Golden Eagles – hit his first home run in the Blue & Gold, driving a ball over the fence in left field to tie the game up at 2-2.
 
The Clarion offense grinded out another run before the frame was over, with Lenny Piccini, Nate Petke and Alfredo Hurtado all reaching consecutively. Kasey Shughart struck out to put two outs in the book, but Mason Kepler drove in Piccini in the next at-bat with a hard-hit shot to shortstop for an infield single.
 
The Golden Rams responded in the home half of the inning, with Zack Miles and JR Gifford bashing a pair of solo home runs off Proios that made it 4-3. That proved to be the difference in the game. Clarion went down in order in the top of the seventh.
 
Shughart and Caden Contant both went 2-for-4 at the dish, while Kepler, McManamon and Felner were all credited with RBIs. Shughart also swiped a bag, his first of the year. Proios took the loss, giving up four runs – three earned – in 5.0 innings. Anthony Tucci threw a scoreless inning of relief.
 
Game 2: West Chester 6, Clarion 4
Recap: This game featured more fireworks and back-and-forth, as both sides put up a pair of runs in the first inning of action. Clarion was the home side in this contest and as such responded to a pair of West Chester runs with two of their own. Caden Contant roped a two-run double the opposite way to right field, scoring Daren Byers and Hurtado to make it 2-2.
 
The Golden Rams countered with a two-run, two-out double in the top of the third inning, bringing home a pair to take a 4-2 lead. That advantage reached 5-2 in the top of the fourth inning, but Clarion responded in the home half of the stanza on Sam Felner's second home run of the doubleheader. The transfer jacked an 0-2 pitch over the center field fence to cut the lead to 5-3. Contant drove in another run in the sixth inning, cutting the Golden Rams' lead to 5-4 with a groundout to shortstop that plated McManamon, but Clarion got no closer and West Chester added an insurance run later in the afternoon.
 
Contant ended up driving in three of the Golden Eagles' four runs in the second game, with Felner adding the other. Contant and McManamon both hit doubles, while Sam Economy and Tyler Meachum both stole bases. Sam Rice took the loss with five runs allowed, though only three were earned. Riley Palmer and Ryan Gallagher combined for three innings of one-run relief.