Only three games remain before the Southern Region playoffs, and the Mt. Hood Saints baseball team is working hard to claim an NWAACC championship trophy at the end of the season.

With a record of 27-6 overall and a Southern Region-clinching 20-4 record, the Saints will enter the playoffs, May 21, as one of the top teams in the entire NWAACC.

Centerfielder Mike Hall thinks the team’s chemistry is one of the main factors to its success this season. “We get along really well, we have a lot of talent, and we’ve got each other’s backs no matter what,” he said. “We have a lot of team trust.”

According to statistics compiled by NWAACC officials through April 24 (most recent statistics available), four Saints pitchers have ERAs (earned-run averages) under two and two hitters are listed in the top 20.

The pitchers are: right-hander Zach Bird, who was seventh in the NWAACC with an .066 ERA and an 8-0 record; right-hander Joey Letcher, with a 1.31 ERA and a 2-0 record; right-hander Shannon Wirth, with a 1.72 ERA and a 7-1 record; and left-hander Jeff Childress, who has a 1.95 ERA and a 4-0 record.

Bird, who also leads the NWAACC with four complete games this season, captured his fourth in a 5-0 shutout win against the Chemeketa Storm on Tuesday, May 3. He also led the NWAACCs in strikeouts with 61 through April 24.

Wirth had 55 strikeouts as of April 24, placing him in a three-way tie for second in the NWAACC with Everett Trojans’ J.T. Zink, and the Lane Titans’ Ryan Shaver.

“We have two or three pitchers that would be aces on any team in the league,” said Hall.
The top Mt. Hood batters in the statistics were catcher and outfielder Bryan Donohue, who was seventh in the NWAACC with a batting average of .422 and right-handed pitcher and infielder James Allan with a .378 batting average.

“We’ve been swinging the bat really well, because we’ve been working hard in the cages,” said Hall. “We don’t just talk about it (working on hitting), we do it.”

This hard work has led the Saints to a seventh-place ranking in the NWAACC in team hitting with a .274 batting average. They are also sixth in pitching with a team ERA of 2.31.

With these numbers, the Saints are rolling on toward the championship tournament held in Longview, Wash, May 26-30.

“Our goals are to play solid going into the tournament,” said Hall.

The Saints are taking on the Linn-Benton Roadrunners at home today at 1 p.m., making up a doubleheader that was rained-out Tuesday. The team will also travel to Southwestern Community College Saturday and will return for their final home game of the season against the Lane Titans Tuesday, May 17, at 1 p.m.

“Hopefully (we) will be able to swing the bat and do what we need to do in order to win,” said Hall.