Saints explode out of the gate

Softball is 10 games into the year already, and Mt. Hood is near the top of the leaderboard, as usual. With a record of 8-2 and plenty of lopsided victories, head coach Meadow McWhorter’s squad is poised and ready to take on division rivals, come April.

With split road games between the Blue Mountain Timberwolves, Walla Walla Warriors and Columbia Basin Hawks, the Saints took five of six last weekend, outscoring their opponents 64-9 in the victories. Their lone defeat came in the final game against the Hawks, where Sammie Byron took the circle before eventually being replaced by Kendal Cox. After demolishing Columbia Basin 12-0 earlier that day, Mt. Hood dropped the finale, 8-2. McWhorter said the team learned some quality lessons in the loss and need to find ways to get better against a pitcher like the Hawks’ Kayla Andrews, who punched out eight Saints. “Our offense didn’t respond like I hoped they would. We faced Andrews last year, and know she’s beatable,” said McWhorter. Although it was tough to head home after a loss, it shouldn’t detract from a mostly dominant road trip. “We played to our level in five games. I was proud that we didn’t drop to the level of our competition,” she said.

Kayla Byers threw five innings of shutout ball against the Timberwolves on Friday, with the mercy rule in effect after those five. The Saints won 11-0. The second game saw Mt. Hood pour on 21 hits and score 18 times, thrashing Blue Mountain by 10. The duo of Byron and Cox held the Warriors to only four hits and had a combined shutout on Friday. The mercy rule again took effect after five innings and saw Mt. Hood cruise to a 13-0 win. Byers toed the rubber in the second game, striking out seven and allowing only one run. The Saints allowed Walla Walla to stay in the game a whole extra inning, with the mercy rule calling it after six this time. The Saints won 10-1.

Coach McWhorter has been instilling an “I will” attitude in the team, turning hesitation into determination. They’re not concerned with statistics at this point. In fact, McWhorter prefers they don’t even look at their offensive numbers, because they’re focused on the two things they can control: effort and attitude. With fundamentals in place, there’s likely no stopping a team with this talent.

Advocate Staff