No vacation for motivated freshman slugger

 

 

It’s not every day that an athlete like Tommy Lane comes to Mt. Hood Community College to play a sport.

The standout freshman led the Saints baseball team in nearly every offensive category this spring with  five home runs, 25 RBIs and a .307 batting average with 42 total hits. Lane, a first baseman, was a force on the diamond, earning second team All-South Region honors.

The 6-foot-6-inch slugger began playing the sport at a young age.

“I’ve been playing baseball since I was big enough to pick up a bat. I’d mess around with my dad when I was 3 or 4,” he said. “I started with T-ball like anybody else and really had fun with it and stuck with it.”

Lane was a multi-sport athlete at Pendleton High School, playing baseball and basketball and swimming, aswell. In his sophomore baseball season, he won All-State honors. A year later, he set  Pendleton’s single-season home run (11) and RBI records (52). He  played power forward for the basketball team his freshman, sophomore and senior years. He also competed in swimming his junior year, where he placed third at the district meet.

During Lane’s senior basketball season, he broke his collar bone. The injury forced him to miss his senior year of baseball. Before that, he was projected to be a 10th-round pick in the 40-round MLB amateur draft and had earned scholarship offers from various Division I colleges. He had decided to attend St. Mary’s College, in California, to play baseball.

However, because of his injury, Lane decided to come play baseball for Mt. Hood instead. By doing so, he added to the strong connection between Mt. Hood and Pendleton. Current Mt. Hood athletes Kristen Crawford, SheaLee Lindsey, Xanya Robinson, and Kasidee Lemberger also attended Pendleton High School. Former volleyball head coach Chelsie Speer also graduated from Pendleton, in 2001.

Off the field, Lane enjoys hunting, fishing, and hanging out with friends. He also enjoys going on drives. At the moment, his intended major is accounting.  He gained interest in the major after taking a Business 101 class and he’s good with numbers, he said. His favorite class this year has been statistics because of his “boss” teacher, Barry Edwards, he said.

Lane listed future hall-of-fame shortstop Derek Jeter as his favorite baseball player because of how Jeter holds himself on and off the field, he said. He said professional athletes inspire him because he, too, would like to play professional baseball one day.

Lane said he enjoys playing for Mt. Hood and for Saints head coach Bryan Donohue.

“Playing for MHCC is great. It’s a very tight-knit group of guys that have the team’s interest at heart over their own personal interests,” he said. “It’s fun, he (Donohue) keeps you loose and he is one of the only coaches I’ve ever had who can compete with you just because of his age and the beast he is, he’s pretty strong. He keeps you on your toes and he’s pretty fun. I like him.”

Donohue had good things to say about Lane, as well.

“The one thing that was exciting about him coming here in the first place is his potential, it’s through the roof,” Donohue said. “Physically, what he is able to do and the hitter that he was in high school obviously got us pretty excited.

“The one thing that makes him special is (that) his work ethic is pretty incredible. He’s a guy who just really wants to  keep getting better,” Donohue said. “It was fun to watch him this year just develop.”

With the way Mt. Hood finished the year –on a five-game win streak – there looks to be a lot of promise heading into next season.

Lane has high aspirations for next season, he said.

“As a team I want (us) to win a championship, and individually I just want to improve on all of my stats from this year… I think Mt. Hood is capable every year of winning a championship, it just depends on how well players mesh,” he said.

He will play summer ball this year alongside sophomore teammate Cole Hamilton for the Falcons in the Canadian West Coast League (a collegiate summer league).

Donohue is excited to see the possible improvement in Lane’s game following summer league play. “This summer will be really good for him. He’s playing in a high-level summer league for one of my former assistants, with Cole. So, that’s really going to be a good learning experience for him and a good test for him,” the coach said.

“I’m excited to see the player that he’s going to come back from the summer as… Just as far as how much more developed he’s going to be from facing the level of pitching he’ll be seeing all summer,” he said.

Lane hopes to continue playing baseball, after Mt. Hood, with a Division I program and later, professionally. With his continued success and great potential, the sky is the limit for him.

“He’s got the potential to be really, really special and get a pretty cool opportunity after he’s done here,” said Donohue.