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Wednesday, May 7, 1997 Cougars struggle towards playoffs JOHN THORBURN Assistant Sports Editor » JOHN THORBURN / Clackamas Print Clackamas squared off against the Lane Titans yesterday. Game information was not available at press time. The Clackamas baseball team is in a tight race for playoff spots. In a virtual deadlock for playoff spots with Linn-Benton and Mt. Hood, all the games remaining count. "We're in a tight spot right now," said Head Coach Robin Robinson. "We pretty much have to win everything now. If we lose one or two games, we'll be out of the playoff picture." On Monday, the Cougars faced off against Linn-Benton in a single nine in ning make-up game. Right-hander Dylan Givens started against the Albany community college. Givens pitched four and one-third in nings, striking out four. In the top of the fifth inning, Clackamas held a 2-0 lead behind Seth McCracken's two run home run to left field. Linn-Benton loaded the bases, however, and began to dig into the Cou gars' lead. Givens gave up a leadoff Playing for another title BRENDON NEAL Sports Editor The Cougars are 19-6 and are in first place in the Southern Division. One of the Cougars’ strengths and weaknesses this year is streak hitting. Last week Clackain’as had three innings of fiveor more runs, -but, only scored eight runs in four games against South western Oregon Community College. “We haven’t al ways been that kind of team [in past years]'” said Head Coach PaulFiskum. . “We’don’t turn it on until One player starts going off,” said Second Baseman Kriss Demos on why the :team scores runs in bunches. Clackamas' bats struggled in four games against Southwestern Oregon Community College, but the Cougars were only outscored 8-5 overall. On Tuesday, SWOCC beat Clackamas 4-3 and 1-0. Danielle Soldani was the only Cougar with multiple hits in a 4-0 victory over Green River. Soldani went two for . three and had a run to get Clackamas going in the, second inning. In the first game, Clackamas had no errors and gave up only five hits. Robin Viol went 2-4 and had a run in the first inning. Laurie Nielson added a run on a single. Kelly Comstock pitched a near shut out giving up only three hits in 16 at bats. "It was a well-played game. Both teams had good pitching, and they JS WOCC] didn't hit the ball hard at all," said Fiskum. The bâts heated up on Thursday as Clackamas blew by South Puget Sound 11-1 in five innings. "We had a good, long hitting practice on Wednesday. We knew we needed to get our bâts going again," said Fiskum. Three Cougars had two more runs and five had RBIs. ... "Making out the line up card is harder than it has ever been since I have been here. We don't have a set starting unit," said Fiskum. "We have good sticks on the bench if we need a pinch hit." AFTER single to the 'Runners and then walked the next two batters before getting the first out of the inning. Linn-Benton managed to score one run on their next hitter's single into left field. On the next play, the Linn-Benton batter lined a hit back up the middle, hit ting Givens on the shin. The ball bounced off of the 6'3" pitcher and into right field allowing two runs to score. Givens then limped off of the field and Donal McGavran replaced him. Clackamas escaped the inning soon af ter but found itself down 3-2. In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Cougars took advantage of two Linn- Benton errors to score four runs and re claim the lead 6-3. Clackamas went on to win the game 13-7. On Thursday, the Mt Hood Saints found themselves down 2-0 against Clackamas before scoring six runs in the fifth inning. Mt. Hood won the game 8-6. "That's the way it has been all year for us," said Coach Robinson. "We start off good, get a few runs, and then we give YOU CAN up one big inning where opponents score a bunch." Catcher Jeremy Hubbard, playing with a sore left hand, hit three for four while Brad Taylor batted two for three. Left-handed Ryan Mann [2-2] took the loss for Clackamas. On Sunday, the Cougars traveled to Albany to face Linn-Benton in a double header. In the opening game of the afternoon, Linn-Benton shut down Clackamas — only allowing the Cougars to five hits. The 'Runners won the game 3-0. Jeremy Mann went two for four at the plate while Erick Johnson took the loss on the mound. In the second game, Clackamas took advantage of three Roadrunner errors and scored five runs on five hits to claim a 5-1 victory. Corey Rooper scored the bulk of the Cougars' runs by hitting one for two and walking twice. Rooper scored three runs. Right-handed pitcher Chris Bentley [4-2] shut down the Linn- Benton offense —allowing one run on six hits. SEE EVERYTHING SEE AND THE YOU THOUSANDTH P O S S I B L. E ACTION YOU See Softball, page 8 IS COURSE THE OF O N E CHOOSE AND YOU C OR R E C T ARE A G A I N uflg w ' ara B E A BREEZE EARN U P TO $30,000 FOR COLLEGE AND GO THERE WITH THE SMARTS Í: SELF-DISCIPLINE AND REAL WORLD EXPERIENCE THAT ONLY COME FROM BEING A MARINE, felVIARINE CORPS COLLEGE FUND .INFORMATION SUBJECT TO. CHANCE. JOHN THORBURN / Clackamas Print [Wednesday, May 7, 1997 Volume XXX, Issue24^^
