Saints baseball stumbles, bounced early from tourney

They say, “That’s why you play the game” – because one never knows what’s going to happen. Sometimes top teams falter when it matters most, sometimes the ball doesn’t bounce just right. Momentum can carry a club a long way, but sometimes it’s the other guys who have it.

That seemed to be the case for the MHCC Saints last weekend during the Northwest Athletic Conference Baseball Championship tournament, held at David Story Field in Longview, Wash.

Mt. Hood secured its spot in the championship bracket and avoided the super regionals by winning the South Region outright this spring. After a good-not-great showing in early conference play, the Saints buckled down and went 18-6 in the South, seemingly hitting their stride and readying themselves for the NWAC championship tourney.

The defense turned its collective back on them, though, unraveling in their first game of the tournament against the Pierce Raiders: The Saints committed eight errors, which led to eight unearned runs. Mt. Hood kept up in the batter’s box, tallying nine hits to the Raiders’ 11, but was outscored, 10-2, in the end.

The loss sent the Saints to the survival bracket, as the tournament is a double-elimination format, where they would take on the Bellevue Bulldogs.

Bellevue was coming off a loss to eventual third-place winners Everett, and edged Mt. Hood by the slightest of margins in the second game. Both teams recorded eight knocks and four free passes; the Bulldogs struck out seven times, the Saints 10. Fielding errors were the story again, though, as the three committed by Mt. Hood gave Bellevue an extra run (even though they allowed two unearned runs themselves) which just so happened to come in the bottom of the ninth, allowing the Bulldogs to walk off with a 5-4 victory, forcing the Saints to pack their bags for home.

It was a disappointing ending to a promising playoff stretch, and an early exit for a team that just wants to get over that last (title) hump – but that’s why you play the game.

Advocate Staff