SAINTS LIFTED BY TEAM CHEMISTRY

The Mt. Hood softball team went 32-7 overall and 26-2 in the South Region this season, taking first place in the South.

Now the Saints start play in the 16-team, double-elimination NWAC championship tournament in Spokane as the overall No. 2 seed. Their first game is set for 10 a.m. today, May 17, against No. 15 Spokane.

(Tournament bracket/live stats/livestream available at: nwacsports.org/softball/championship.php)

The Saints lost their final doubleheader of the season at Centralia, on Saturday, May 11. While they might have not finished undefeated in the South, this team is “special,” as described by third-year head coach Brittany Hendrickson. Looking back on this season, the Saints gutted out a win against that same team, Centralia, back in April where they were down, 13-5, early on.

“That game showed what this team is all about,” said Hendrickson. The Saints “showed heart and passion, (and) always think that they are never out of the game, even though they are down by 15 runs,” she said. The team overcame adversity, battling with a couple key injuries and having freshmen stepping up to take bigger roles this season.

Also, this team grieved over the loss of a former coach. Geri Ann Glasco, assistant coach for Mt. Hood during 2018, died in January in a Louisiana traffic accident –and the sophomores play every game for her, Hendrickson said.

Hendrickson called the sophomore class “unreal” because of how it keeps this core together and maintains the team’s culture. With 14 freshman due to join the Saints next year, she’s hoping to keep the same culture, and same run, going strong.

But Mt. Hood has unfinished business to get to, this weekend, before we get to talk about next season!