SAINTS SPORTS TO NWAC POSTSEASON

Playoffs for baseball! For softball! For track and field! Playoffs for everyone! Come one, come all to the NWAC championships!

You heard it right, Mt. Hood’s spring sports have all made it to postseason action. Head coaches Donohue and Hendrickson, and co-coaches Fantroy and Holding, all did a great job this season reaching the goal of getting their athletes to the championship round.

So, here’s applause from us for their hard work and dedication this year for Saints sports.

We start off with Mt. Hood baseball, which didn’t have a very good start to the season but ended up gaining quite some momentum in the second half, as they ended their schedule a winning streak of eight games.

The Saints finished 20-24 overall on the regular season, with a .467 percentage and 14-16 record in South Region play. Their current streak started with winning four of the five games they played against Southwestern Oregon Community College (losing the first one just 6-4, then winning the last four with scores of: 9-3, 9-1, 2-1, and 5-3) a week and a half ago. They then won a series sweep of Olympic Community College (4-3, 4-3, 5-3, and 5-0) this past weekend, May 12-13, which lifted them into third place in the South and into the playoffs.

This makes the fourth consecutive playoff appearance for Mt. Hood, and comes after Saints were South Region champions the last two years. MHCC will strive to move on to the NWAC championship bracket – featuring the top four surviving teams as well as the four No. 1 seeds from all four regions, set in Longview, Washington starting Thursday, May 24. But before that, Saints baseball must come out alive from the league’s North super regional, set in Everett, Washington, where they begin at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 19. It’s a double-elimination bracket, where Mt. Hood will face Centralia Community College first.

Softball   

Continuing the good news, the Saints softball team once again made it to the NWAC Championship tournament, which began in Spokane, Washington, this morning (Friday, May 18). Mt. Hood will take on Wenatchee Valley Community College at 12:30 p.m., to help kick off the double-elimination tournament.

The Saints are coming in much stronger compared to last season, where they barely slid into the playoffs as the No. 15 team among all competing in the 16-team tournament. The 2018 Saints finished 26-14 overall on the regular season, with a .692 percentage and 18-8 record in South Region play, good for second place.

This places the Saints as No. 8 this year among the tourney teams. Mt. Hood softball also ended the season in a good note as they beat Chemeketa Community College in a double-header, sweeping the first game, 9-0, and winning a much more even second game, 4-3. Advancing to the NWAC playoffs is a tradition for Mt. Hood softball, as this will be the 23rd straight season they will be participating (and winning five titles in the last nine years.)

Track

We finish with track and field, where many Saints will perform in the NWAC championship meet, taking place right here at Mt. Hood on Monday-Tuesday, May 21-22.

Some male athletes to keep an eye out for will be: Michael Botchway, who will be racing in the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes where he looks to place in the top three; Austin Dewolfe who will run the 400-meter hurdles; Romanre’ Williams, who will have a busy two days as he’ll perform in the high jump, long jump, and triple jump; Jacob Cason, who also will have his hands full in the men’s hammer, discus and shot pot.

On the women’s side, Mt. Hood has Grace Buchanan, taking part in the hammer, shot, and javelin (where it seems that she’s a heavy favorite); Therese Nahimana in the 400-meter hurdles; and Taylor Presley, who will run the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes.

So, whether you’re in class, finding some time to kill, or just wandering around campus, stop by Mt. Hood’s track this Monday and Tuesday to see and cheer on your fellow Saints.