Saints’ nine game win streak halts

The Saints took over first place in the NWAACC Southern Region after sweeping a doubleheader with the Lane Titans Saturday and maintained their position by splitting a doubleheader Tuesday against the secondplace Chemeketa Storm.

The Saints knocked the ball around during the fi rst game against Lane, touching up the Titan pitching for 10 hits en route to a 4-1 victory.

Alex Foulson, Nick Paxton, Jake Thran, and Taylor Williams all contributed two hits during the
first victory.

Offense wasn’t the only bright spot in game one as Isaac Henslee improved to 3-0, surrendering only one run in seven innings, improving his ERA to 0.84, sixth best in the NWAACC.

They followed up with a narrow 3-2 win in the second game. With only two days off, the team looked to continue its winning ways when they welcomed the Chemeketa to Oslund Field Tuesday for a two-game set.

In game one, the Saints took an early lead and held onto it as the Mt. Hood’s leading batsman Shea Coates showed why he’s hitting .321 with two hits and two RBI.

Sophomore Christian Bannister notched his league leading eighth save as Mt. Hood held on to win 4-1 allowing pitcher Zev Egli to improve his record to 4-0 on the season.

Egli gave up one run and four hits in seven innings of work. Keeping the ball in play all game long, the Saints took an early lead and then held on, allowing sophomore Christian Bannister to notch his leagueleading eighth save as MHCC won 4-1.

But the Storm came back to win the second game 5-4, scoring two go-ahead runs in the top of the sixth, and giving their bullpen the opportunity to shut the door, as well as ending a 9-game win streak for the Saints.

Outfielder Hunter Weiss had two hits and two RBI in the losing effort.

Although Tuesday’s loss put an end to an impressive winning streak, Mt. Hood has nothing but positive notes to look back on. Although Tuesday’s loss put an end to an impressive winning streak, MHCC has nothing but positive notes to look back on.

Strong pitching led the charge as the staff gave up no more than three runs in any game during the streak, including shutouts against Clackamas and Linn- Benton, as well as a 15-3 beatdown of SW Oregon.

Coach Bryan Donohue credited their success to near-fl awless infi eld and outfi eld play during the recent games.

“We know our pitching is going to go out on the mound and get the job done whenever we need them to, and it takes a lot of pressure off the offense. We have confi dence going into every game,” said Donohue. Donohue also said that having a more consistent schedule has helped the team.

“Not having to wait a week in between games keeps the team focused,” he said. With strong pitching and consistent hitting, the Saints will be sitting pretty at the top of the Southern region, battling against Linn-Benton, Lane and Chemeketa for the number one seed heading into the NWAACC tournament at the end of May.

The league play may have just begun, but those were the three squads Donohue noted that would more than likely be the toughest competition through season’s end.

He said they still have four more meetings against each team. With 18 games left, over half of the league schedule is still to be played, but the team looks to take the confi dence that Donohue mentioned into every matchup left on their schedule.

The Saints had a doubleheader scheduled Thursday against Lane but results were unavailable at presstime. Next up, the Saints will host South West Oregon Community College Saturday in another doubleheader at 1 p.m.