Saints’ win streak at three

The Saints baseball team built a three-game winning streak starting last weekend and has jumped back into the South Division race.

Mt. Hood’s surge began with a Friday double-header against division rival Clackamas Community College, played in Gresham. Mt. Hood took care of business in Game One, outscoring Clackamas 6-2. Freshman first baseman Tommy Lane led the way for the Saints, recording three hits and a home run.

The Saints also took the second game, an  8-7 walk-off win. Freshman batter Connor Newell drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the ninth inning to end the game. Lane again delivered a spark on the offensive end, contributing three RBIs and a home run, his fourth of the season.

On Monday, the Saints traveled to Clackamas where they played one of two rescheduled games against the Cougars (postponed from Saturday). Mt. Hood extended its streak with a dominating 11-5 victory. The Saints outplayed Clackamas on both sides of the ball, doubling the Cougars’ hit total (12 hits to six)  and committing only half the errors (two) Clackamas suffered. Sophomore outfielder John Welborn paced the Saints’ stellar offensive performance with four hits on five at-bats and two RBIs.

The second game of the double header was again postponed due to weather, to be made up at a later date.

Saints head coach Bryan Donohue pointed to improved offense as a key to success in the current hot streak.

“When your offense starts clicking it alleviates so much pressure over the course of a game,” he said. “It helps our pitchers and it helps our defense stay relaxed.”

Donohue sees everything finally coming together for Mt. Hood. “You can see a lot of guys are really confident right now,” he said. “Things are rolling well. You know, three straight, four out of our last five is good.

“We’ve dealt with a lot of adversity that some teams may not deal with until the very end of the season. I feel we’ve come out playing better than we have all season. I have a good feeling about this end stretch of the season,” he said.

The Saints are currently fourth in the Southern Region with a record of 10-17 (7-8 in division play). Donohue expects his team to build on its recent success for the rest of the season.

“Sometimes it just takes a team to turn a corner and everything changes. I think that we’ve done that,” he said. “Our guys are playing with a sense of urgency, knowing from here on out every game means a lot.”

The Saints host Chemeketa Community College (13-15) today at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m., then travel to Salem on Saturday to play the Storm again in a second doubleheader.

Freshman Jake Dahlberg delivers a pitch against Clackamas last friday.

Advocate Staff