Back on track

After a sluggish start to the season, the Mt. Hood Saints baseball team has turned a page and is headed in the right direction, at least for now. The team won’t let a string of recent wins get to it collective head, however.

“I think this team is pretty good,” said Saints head coach Bryan Donohue. “It’s going to be fun down the stretch. I think this team is going to get on a roll and we will be on top in a week or so.”

The Saints (5-3 in the South Region, 13-14 overall) took three out of four games against South Region foe Lane CC (3-5, 15-9) on April 16-17. And they did it with apparent ease, outscoring the Titans 22-6 in the two doubleheaders played over the weekend at Oslund Field in Gresham and Titan Field in Eugene.

“The offense just came together and had a good approach throughout the whole weekend,” said Saints sophomore catcher Bowen Ogata. “It was good for our team to win that series and get some momentum heading into the next few league games. It felt like we put together a few complete games, which was something we struggled with earlier in the year.”

Donohue was extremely pleased with his team’s offensive effort, especially in timely situations. “We are capitalizing on situations,” the coach said. “We really put together some good at-bats and got to their bullpen quickly, which is good during a four-game series.”

The Saints next square off with Clackamas CC (3-9, 5-17) in a doubleheader slated for 2 p.m. today in Oregon City. The two teams will then turn around and play again in a 1 p.m. Saturday doubleheader scheduled in Gresham.

In game one of the doubleheader with the Titans on Saturday, the Saints won, 5-4, behind the arm of sophomore pitcher Riley Moore (3-3, 3.77 ERA). In game two the Saints squeezed by once again, this time blanking their opponent, 3-0. Saints starting pitcher Cameron Jack (3-2, 2.90 ERA) pitched a complete game shutout.

On Sunday, the Saints got off to a hot start in game one and defeated the Titans 10-0 in just seven innings, due to the ten-run mercy rule followed in the NWAC. Saints sophomore hurler Nate Hunter (2-3, 6.61 ERA), who had been struggling in weeks past, posted quite the start on the bump, going the distance and throwing a complete game on just 57 pitches. He scattered only two hits while fanning two batters in the winning effort. It didn’t help any that the Titans committed four costly errors in six innings.

“Our pitchers were in the zone and got the Titans batters real aggressive. We got a lot of quick outs,” said Donohue. “We played good defense and didn’t make a lot of errors. In the games we won, we didn’t do any favors for them and capitalized on their mistakes. And I’m sure it was frustrating (for Lane). We didn’t do anything to get them any good opportunities.”

In game two, the Titans finally caught some revenge and won, 4-2. Saints freshman pitcher Cobi Johnson (2-1, 2.25 ERA) was tagged with the loss.

Ogata, a transfer from the University of Utah (a Pac-12, Division I school), along with his teammates, was not only excited about the three victories, but also pleased with the way Hunter bounced back on the mound. “It was great to see Nate put everything together and have a great outing,” said Ogata, Hunter’s battery mate. “He was hitting his spots and getting a lot of swing-and-misses. He was keeping them off balance, which was a big part of his success.”

Donohue quickly added, “Nate’s start was so big. That was a huge thing to get him rolling like that. He’s one of our leaders on this team. He just had a rough start to the season, but he will be just fine. He’s feeling great.”

Titans head coach Josh Blunt credited the Saints for their effort, but wasn’t too pleased with the way his team approached the weekend.

“We struggled playing consistent catch in key moments and that led to two of the three losses,” Blunt said. “Mt. Hood also swung the bat well with two outs and runners in scoring position,” he added, certainly a key in run production and a big factor in the Saints’ victories.