Baseball sweeps Chemeketa

By PETER HILLS

The Saints baseball team continued to hold their first place spot the Southern Region, making their goal of winning the regional championship that much closer after sweeping Chemeketa 15-3 and 12-7 on Tuesday at home.

Chemeketa took the lead in the first game 1-0 after two scoreless innings but Mt. Hood tied the game in the fourth. In the fifth inning Mt. Hood broke away with four unanswered runs to take the lead and go on to win the game 15-3.

In the second game, Chemeketa came out with two runs in the first inning. In the bottom of the second inning, with Mt. Hood down 4-1, the Saints score two runs on a hit from Brooks Lindsly. With two outs, Tyler Moore batted in a run to tie the score 4-4. Matt Hibbitts and Tim Rodriguez kept the momentum rolling, bringing in runs to end the inning with Mt. Hood in front 7-4. They won 12-7. “We did a really good job. Our offense came out and put a lot of runs on the board,” said catcher Eric Brown.

The Saints also played Chemeketa April 27 and swept them 13-6 and 5-3.

Last Saturday they played Lane, who’s hot on their heels, in the Southern Region standings. They won the first game 8-5, and the second game was rescheduled to Thursday due to a rainout. Results of the second game were unavailable at press time.

“It was a good win because we can split the series with them now, no matter what,” Brown said after Wednesday’s practice, “They are second place right now in our region and every time we beat them just gives us an extra game towards the championship.”

Saints freshman pitcher Austan Mason leads the NWAACC in wins with eight and a 0.85 era in 52.67 innings pitched. Hibbitts helps lead the team with four home runs, 34 runs batted in and a .356 batting average. Lindsly leads the team in runs with 36 and a .432 batting average. Moore is a close second with 32 runs, six home runs and a .346 batting average.

The Saints are in their final three weeks of the regular season. On Saturday the Saints (17-4) host Clackamas (5-15). Brown said the biggest challenge in the following weeks will be “staying healthy and finishing on a good note. We want to be able to go to the NWAACC tournament. We want to be healthy and ready to compete for the championship.”