Young team exceeds all expectations

Mt. Hood baseball team (36-9) looks to cap off championship season with NWAACC title

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By Peter Hills

Last year saw one of the most cutthroat and aggressive baseball clubs in MHCC history, and when the entire starting line-up graduated, no one could have predicted that this year’s team would not only become the Southern Region Champions, but also be top contenders in the NWAACC Tournament in Longview, Wash.
“These guys are hungry. They are 36-9; they beat everybody that they’ve played. The only team that they haven’t beat that we played is Lower Columbia. And we lost 2-1 in a really good game. We can’t wait to get up there and get our chance at winning that tournament,” said head coach Gabe Sandy.
The Saints opened up tournament play Thursday against the number two team from the East, Wenatchee Valley (33-18). Final results were unavailable at press time, but the game was tied in the fifth inning when action delayed due to rain.
“They are a lot like us. They play a lot of small ball, they like to move runners, they like to push, drag, bunt and hit and run. I saw them try to squeeze and steal home. They’re definitely scrappy. They’ve got some good frontline pitching, so it’s going to be a tough match-up,” said Sandy.
Over this last weekend, Wenatchee Valley, along with all the other regions besides the South, held play offs to determine the top two teams going into the tournament.
“I don’t think there is an advantage or disadvantage either way [of having a play off]. A pro for them is the fact that they got to compete on Saturday and they had to play their way into the tournament, so that makes them tougher. But a con is that they had to go there and play, they had to throw all their pitchers and use their best guys and they may not be as well rested as the guys that don’t have to play in that play-off,” said Sandy.
This is one of the youngest teams to enter the NWAACC Tournament, but Sandy said inexperience will not be a factor.
“I would love to have a little bit more experience. [Coach Dale Stebbins] has some quote about landing on the moon: If it takes experience to be great, then we would’ve never landed on the moon, because we never did that before and that was a pretty good accomplishment,” said Sandy. “I think experience is definitely valuable but it’s not going to keep us from having a chance to win the tournament. No way.”
Pitcher/shortstop Brooks Lindsly said, “As a younger crew we work really well together. We have a lot of freshmen, but I don’t think we play like freshmen. Talent-wise we are all pretty even-keeled.”
Third baseman/outfielder Matt Hibbitts added, “As long as you don’t go in there thinking it’s a big deal, it’s not going to be one. If you go in there thinking ‘Oh my god, NWAACCs,’ it’s going to be crazy, it’s going to be intense. You just got to play the same throughout the whole year and you should be totally fine.”
“This is the most even-keeled, calm, not-get-bothered-by-anything team I’ve ever coached,” said Sandy, “Nothing bothers these guys: bad call from an umpire; no big deal; other team hootin’ and hollering, no big deal; we make a couple bad plays and get behind, no big deal. You can’t overreact in baseball, you can’t get too excited, you can’t get happy, you can’t get sad, you can’t get anything, you got to stay even-keeled. Don’t make [any] mistake about it, these guys compete, they’re very competitive.”
Offense has been this club’s strong point all year, according to coach Sandy. Sophomore Tyler Moore stepped up at bat this season leading the team in home runs with nine, scoring 46 runs, and a .359 batting average. Moore also leads in assists with 101. Lindsly leads the team in runs with 53; he batted in 31 runs with a .427 batting average. Catcher Eric Brown and outfielder Tim Rodriguez are tied with 13 stolen bases. Brown is a consistent hitter with a .414 batting average. He scored 34 runs this year. Rodriguez is always a clutch hitter and has a .338 batting average. Hibbitts, a standout freshman, has a .371 batting average and leads the team in RBIs with 47.
Sandy said it will take great pitching and defense to win the tournament. Heading up the pitching staff is breakout freshman Austan Mason. During the regular season Mason threw 77 strike outs in 76.67 innings pitched, he’s 10-0 on the mound and has an earned run average of 1.29. Joe Bosso, Nick Smith and Josh Suarez add depth to the Saints’ pitching. Smith and Suarez have 76 combined strikeouts, and each has only one loss on the mound. Bosso has been a solid contributor, only allowing 53 hits in 53.67 innings pitched.
Moore said, “We have great pitching, great hitters and great defense. We don’t really need to worry about it. Been playing games since you were in Little League, the game doesn’t change.”
Sandy said, “The tournament is never easy, you’ve got to fight the whole time. All eight teams are good enough to win it. Baseball is a game of anybody can beat anybody on any given day.”
Hibbitts said, “We are going to go up there and play our game.”