Saints win two out of four games against Chemeketa

Over the past weekend, Mt. Hood split the four games it played against Chemeketa Community College, in a most dramatic turn of fortune.

On Saturday, the Saints swept the Storm in an incredible doubleheader, played at Sandy High School due to damp weather: They came all the way back from down 9-0 in the opener and 7-1 in Game 2 to win both contests, 12-11 and 8-7.

The momentum turned back to Chemeketa on its home field on Sunday, however, as the Storm took both games played in Salem.

(Saints pitcher Ryne Lopez started against Chemeketa on April 8. He was knocked around for seven earned runs, but Mt. Hood rallied for a dramatic 12-11 victory.)

Saturday, the Saints bats were alive and well during their stunning, walk-off rallies.

Trailing 11-3 entering their half of the eighth inning, the Saints got six runs in the eighth and three more in the ninth to shock the Storm. Catcher Luke Grindy led the Saints, going 3 for 4 with four RBIs and scoring twice.

Mt. Hood’s ninth-inning rally was really more of a Chemeketa meltdown, sparked by two hits, a walk, two errors, a wild pitch, and two batters hit by a pitch. The winning run came home when infielder Trevor Nannini was struck by a pitch with the bases loaded.

It was nearly a rerun in the second game. Mt. Hood trailed by six runs entering the bottom of the fourth inning, but pulled within 7-5 entering the seventh (and last) inning.

More timely hits, wrapped around another error and a batter hit-by-pitch, led to three runs. Again, Nannini brought in the winning run, this time with a clutch two-out single to score rightfielder Thomas Lampkin.

On Sunday, however, the struggles returned as the Saints’ hot hitting went out of style. They only scored three runs total in the doubleheader they played on Chemeketa’s home field in Salem, losing the first game, 7-1, and the second, 9-2.

There was not much of an offensive effort in the opener, as the Saints tallied only four hits compared to Chemeketa’s nine. Michael Hults went 2 for 3 for the Storm with two doubles and three RBIs.

Hunter Bruno pitched four innings for Mt. Hood and only gave up one run. The trouble came when pitcher Chris Stone gave up six runs of his own, giving the Storm the upper hand.

The second game’s story wasn’t much different. The Saints were outhit again, with five base hits to Chemeketa’s 11. Collin Runge was clearly the one who made a difference for the Storm in this one. He went 3 for 3 with two runs scored and two RBIs. He made a living at the plate, while the Saints just couldn’t find their rhythm.

Meantime, Travis Klampe was absolutely outstanding on the bump for Chemeketa, giving up the only two runs to Mt. Hood in the first and second innings. After that, he found his inner beast mode and was unstoppable.

The Saints (3-5 South Region, 6-16 overall) are scheduled to play doubleheaders today and Saturday against the Southwestern Oregon Community College Lakers (2-6 South Region, 5-19 overall).

All four games are set for Mt. Hood’s Oslund Field, with starting times of 4 and 7 p.m. today, and noon and 3 p.m. on Saturday.