Leadership will be key for young roster

The team works on drills during practice in the gym.

Winning the South Region last season for a third consecutive year, the Saints baseball team hopes to repeat and will aim for an NWAACC league title this spring, with a lot of new faces on the roster.

Mount Hood (1-3 on the season) will play its first home games of the season on Saturday, taking on Shoreline Community College in contests scheduled for noon and 3 p.m.

After the departure of several key sophomores last year, this season’s squad features more than a dozen freshmen ready to help sustain the team’s success.

“The only change is the learning curve with a younger team. It might take a few more games in the preseason before we really start rolling,” said Mt. Hood head coach Bryan Donohue.

Entering his last season at MHCC, sophomore Cole Hamilton is poised to become a team leader and produce another successful year. He earned the South Region Golden Glove Award for his solid play at second base last year, and now takes over at shortstop.

Another player to watch is right-handed pitcher Zane Bambusch, who could lift MHCC’s title chances by putting away opposing batters.

“The positive thing to having guys returning is not only their experience, but some of them know it’s their last year and it means a lot to them,” Donohue said. “(They) will leave everything on the field.”

Donohue knows winning the South Region again won’t be a walk in the park. Lane and Linn-Benton community colleges have been the Saints’ toughest opponents in recent years and this season looks no different, he said. “We look at it as a challenge, plus we know every game is not easy.”

The preseason kicked off a little rough for the Saints last weekend, in Edmonds, Wash. They played four games, racking up three losses against Vancouver Island Baseball Institute and Edmonds Community College before finally winning, 9-2, against Vancouver Island last Sunday.

“More than anything, we just needed to play,” Donohue said of the weekend matchups near Seattle. He was pleased, overall, with his players’ effort and performance. “It was frustrating to get on a slow start, but at the same time we looked at it as a positive.”

The weather has been a big factor for the Saints as they haven’t been able to practice outside much, due to their natural grass field being soaked by recent rains. That was reflected last weekend in the team’s lack of rhythm.

“It takes hitters more time to get things going in the season and they were in the biggest disadvantage last weekend, since the teams we played all have (artificial) turf facilities and practicing in the rain is not an issue for them,” Donohue said.

After playing Shoreline, the Saints will travel south to play four games at Western Nevada College on March 14-15.

Advocate Staff