Saints hitting struggles to bring in runs vs Everett

The Mt. Hood baseball team had a tough weekend against Everett Community College, falling to them in four straight games, all played at Sandy High School.

In the Saturday doubleheader, the Saints were walloped in the first game, 12-4, and lost the second game, 11-5. On Sunday, Mt. Hood lost both games by a 5-2 score.

With those four straight losses, the Saints are now 3-5 on the season, with South Region play yet to begin.

Despite the losses, leadoff batter and third baseman Jace McKinney was a bright spot, going 4-for-5 with three RBIs in the first game on Saturday, then going 3-for-5 and scoring two runs in the second game.

In the first game Mt. Hood trailed throughout, after giving up seven runs in the second inning. In the second game it was a tight battle through six innings, all tied up at 3-3. But in the final three innings, the Saints allowed eight runs.

Pitcher Ian Turner was the losing Mt. Hood pitcher giving up six earned runs and eight hits in three-and-a-third innings of work.

In all Saturday, the Saints pitching staff allowed 31 hits and a total of 21 runs. In comparison Mt. Hood batters produced 22 hits and nine total runs.

Sunday was a slightly different story. The first game, the Saints pitching staff showed improvement, allowing only seven hits and five runs. They also had seven strikeouts. Crazy enough, those stats were almost identical to what Everett had on the mound. The big difference was, the Trojans made their hits count, and drove in runs.

Mt. Hood starting pitcher Ryne Lopez was solid, pitching six innings and allowing just one earned run. Relief pitcher Hunter Bruno was the losing pitcher after entering in the seventh inning and allowing three runs in the eighth and the ninth inning, combined.

The second go-round, Mt. Hood actually had 11 base hits to Everett’s 10. That stat didn’t seem to matter, as Mt. Hood was still stuck in a hole. All they needed was timely hits while they had runners on; the opportunity was there, multiple times. But the Saints just couldn’t cash in.

The losing pitcher was starting pitcher Connor Stevenson, who allowed just one earned run in six innings of work, while he struck out eight. Shortstop Jared Bentley went 2-for-3 with one RBI. Bentley had two of the Saints’ five hits. He also showed off his speed on the basepaths as he added two stolen bases. It wasn’t quite enough to spark the Saints, as they faced a very good guy on the bump. Everett  starting pitcher Ryan Sandifer went seven innings and only allowed three hits, one earned run and notched an impressive nine strikeouts.

Now hoping to bounce back, the Saints travel to Triton Field to play Everett today. They will stay at Triton Field all weekend, while playing Edmonds Community College on Saturday and Pierce College on Sunday.