WASHINGTON, Pa. --- The Golden Eagle baseball team officially kicked off the conference season on Friday, dropping the first two games of a four-game series with California (PA) at Wild Things Stadium. Clarion fell in a close 5-3 decision in the early game, followed by a 9-1 loss in late game.
 
California (PA) 5, Clarion 3
 
RECAP: The scoring in the first game of the series was confined to just three innings as both teams put their runs up in bunches. The Vulcans struck first, scoring three runs off starter Reilly Shafer in the bottom of the first inning, but the Golden Eagles evened the score in the very next half-inning with three runs off Jackson Miller.
 
In the bottom of the first inning, the Vulcans strung together a number of runners on base as well as productive outs. Payton Conte made it 2-0 with an RBI single to left field and Jayden Taitano capped the scoring in that frame with a sacrifice fly to score Ryan Callahan.
 
The Golden Eagle response was swift, with Clarion scoring all three of their second inning runs with two outs. Griffin Snyder led off the frame with a single but he did not advance until Tyler Meachum's two-out base hit to right field. Tyson Gill drove a single to right-center to bring Snyder around, and Scotty McManamon walloped a two-out, two-run double to the gap in left-center to clear the bases. The Golden Eagles tried to tack on another run on Kasey Shughart's hit to right field, but McManamon was thrown out at the plate to leave the game tied at 3-3.
 
Shafer settled in for a while after the Vulcans' first-inning outburst, throwing three straight scoreless innings after that point. Cal got him for two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, including another RBI hit for Conte. Clarion had chances to put more runs on the board themselves, including a situation with two outs and the bases loaded in the fourth inning, and runners in scoring position in both the fifth and sixth innings.
 
Shughart went 2-for-4 at the dish with a pair of singles, as did Snyder. Gill went 2-for-2 with a walk and a run scored. Shafer was credited with five runs against in the loss, and Bobby Curry threw 1.1 innings of scoreless relief.
 
California (PA) 9, Clarion 1
 
RECAP: In the second game of the day, the scoring was once again mostly confined to a few half innings, though this time the Vulcans put up a huge second inning to create a significant advantage. Shughart actually opened the scoring for Clarion in the top of the first inning, striking a single to left field to score McManamon from second base after the latter reached on an error to lead off.
 
The Vulcans enjoyed their big inning in the bottom of the second, sending 11 batters to the plate and tallying six runs. The rally included three straight doubles, the last of which came off the bat of Caleb Collins and made it 3-1. Callahan drove in the final run of the inning with a bunt to bring Ikon Jones across.
 
Cal scored twice more in the bottom of the third inning, with Collins and Colby Rockacy crossing the plate to make it 8-1. Will Martinez tried to get things going in the top of the fifth inning with a leadoff single, but starter Michael Valente retired the next three batters to halt that particular threat. It seemed the Golden Eagles had put together a good offensive htreat in the sixth inning as well, with Shughart recording a one-out base hit followed by a walk from Caden Contant. Valente escaped that jam as well, inducing a ground ball double play from Connor Booth to end the inning.
 
The Golden Eagles' last gasp came in the seventh inning, after Nate Petke led off with a single and Ethan Giangiulio reached on a walk. Steve Scarfone advanced the pair into score position with two outs but the Golden Eagles could not bring them home.
 
Shughart added another two hits in the late game, giving him four for the day and increasing his hit streak to seven games. The senior has 12 hits and is 12-for-25 (.480) in that span.
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