io_____
Schedule
Sports-----
WEdiNEsdAy, ApRil 5, 2000
BASEBALL: Saturday, vs. Chemeketa, 1 p.m.
SOFTBALL: Today, vs. SWOCC, 2 p.m.
TRACK: Saturday, Mt. Hood Relays, 10:30 a.m.
[Far left] Todd Boyle waits his
turn at the plate while #20 Cliff
Johnson hits away.
[Left] Ryan Oliver stares down a
Linfield batter in a game last
week.
Hungry bats pace Cougars to victory
JOHN THORBURN
Editor-in-Chief
Spring is a time of blooming. It’s
a time for development, a time for
growth.
For the Clackamas baseball
team, growth and development
has come along at a rapid pace this
season as the Cougars find them
selves with a 2-0 record in league
play and an 11 -6 record overall.
With half of the squad’s start
ing lineup usually freshmen, and
an entire infield comprised of first-
year players, Clackamas is riding a
high of thundering performances
at the plate and precision defense
in the field.
“The club’s playing really well,”
said Clackamas Head Coach Robin
Robinson. “We’ve got some good
sophomores that are doing tremen
dous things and some young kids
that are learning the game real fast.
They’re kind of being mentored by
some of these older kids and
they’re just falling in line the right
way.”
Coach Robinson couldn’t ask
for a better time for his players to
start working together. In the
middle of the team’s longest
homestand, the Cougars need wins
at home if they hope to survive
the talented Southern Region
schedule and move on to the play
offs. Robinson’s squad has held
its ground.
Last Saturday, Clackamas posted
two wins to open up their league
schedule against a strong South
western Oregon squad.
Leading the team with a .405 av
erage at the plate, sophomore
Ryan Boyle has been on a tear with
team-leading numbers in doubles
and runs batted in [RBI].
“Ryan Boyle is just crushing the
ball and he’s been very sick,” noted
Robinson. “He came in the other
day and was 2-2, then went home
with a 102 [degree] fever. A week
ago, he did the same thing. Against
Linfield he was 3-4 and one of the
coaches said ‘God, you just don’t
look good’ and he said ‘Oh coach,
I feel awful. I’ve been sick all
night.’ So he went home again that
day with about a 101 [degree] fe
ver. He was still 3-4 for the day so
if we ever get him healthy he might
really go off.”
Another Boyle has stepped up
as a leader for the Cougars—Todd
Boyle, a sophomore centerfielder,
is hitting .357 and leads the club in
hits [20], runs scored [17], home
runs [3] and stolen bases [11]. Not
only is he feared at the plate, he
anchors a strong Clackamas de
fense.
“Todd is really playing the de
fense well covering miles and miles
of range out there,” said Robinson.
“He’s already made some great
plays.”
With Will Swisow and Chris
Silva hitting .333 and .323, respec
tively, the Cougars have a potent
attack at the plate. The only ques
tion that remains to be answered
is pitching.
With a strong staff returning
from last year’s squad, Robinson
expected his pitchers to be steady
on the mound. A week into the
league schedule, the big guns
haven't been smoking too much.
“We have seven guys that ar^
pretty good,” noted Robinson.
“Another guy, we don’t really
know yet. One day he comes out
and looks like he could be all
world and then the next day he
could throw with either hand and
he’d do just as well.
“The other guys are not num
ber one pitchers in the league,”
continued Robinson. “They’re not
guys that are going to go out and
burn people down. But they’re
guys that get outs and win
ballgames.
“Everyday we go out, I know
we’re going to hit the ball, I know
we’re going to play great defense.
But pitching, nobody’s being con
sistent enough. Nobody’s being
the bulldog that’s dominating the
game and that’s what we’re still
waiting for.”
As a team, Clackamas’ earned
run average [ERA] is 3.92. The
team’s walk to strikeout ratio is
76:101.
Ron Landolt has the best ERA
on the team at 1.88. He holds a 3-1
record with two saves. Greg
Palmer, a draft pick of the Toronto
Blue Jays out of high school,
stands at 3-0 with a 2.66 ERA. He
has 16 strikeouts. Aaron Shanks
has also picked up three wins and
one loss. He has recorded 14
strikeouts with a 3.60 ERA.
This Saturday, Clackamas hosts
Chemeketa in a doubleheader that
starts at 1 p.m. before playing on
the road until the end of April.
Softball squad stands its ground at home
JOHN THORBURN
Editor-in-Chief
It doesn’t take very long to fig
ure out how good you are in
women’s college softball.
For the Clackamas team, it
couldn’t wait to see just what it was
made of.
Traveling to Arizona to take on
some of the stiffest competition in
the Northwest, the Cougars flexed
their muscles a bit going 2-1-1 at
the Pima CC Tournament in Tuc
son.
“We had a really successful
spring break,” said Clackamas
Head Coach Paul Fiskum.
One of the two wins came against
the University of Northern Colo
rado—a team that had twice beaten
Central Arizona—a junior college
that had previously won five of six
national t'tles in recent years.
In the 3-2 win, the Colorado
school ran into a brick wall at the
plate four times in separate tag
plays in which Cougar catcher Julia
Driggers stood her ground.
“That’s the only game that I can
remember that we’ve had four tag
play outs at the plate,” noted
Fiskum. “Julia did a fantastic job.”
After a successful spring break
trip, the Cougars returned home to
the reality of Northwest weather
playing Olympic College in
Bremerton, WA amidst 40 degree
weather.
The cold wasn’t as kind to the
squad as the warm Arizona sun.
In the team’s season opener,
Olympic stole a win from Clacka
mas 3-2 in nine innings.
“I give all the credit in the world
to Olympic,” noted Fiskum. “They
hit the ball off of Mel [Warthen] as
well as anybody this season, which
surprised me because they’ve
never been a power in the league.
We made some good plays behind
Mel but unfortunately the winning
run got on on just a horrible call
but that’s what happens when you
stay close. We just didn’t score the
runs that we needed to.”
Lori Paradis and Driggers were
both 2-4 at the plate in the loss.
In the second half of the double
header, Paradis and her .333 bat
ting average was 2-4 with two runs
driven in. Melissa Cedillo was also
2-4 with two runs scored.
“Last year, Melissa hit down in
the order,” noted Fiskum. “We de
cided to move her to the #2 spot
and she’s just really responded
well. She’s one of our leading hit
ters so far.”
The Cougars won the game 8-6.
This past weekend, Clackamas
opened up a two-week homestand
with four wins over Chemeketa and
Mt. Hood.
Against the Chemeketa Storm,
Darby Needham and Melanie
Warthen combined for 3 -1 and 6-1
victories on Friday afternoon.
In the first game, Cedillo picked
up two hits and scored twice. In
the second game, Jessica
Farnsworth also recorded two hits
while seven other Cougars had one
hit each. Jessica Rowley had an
RBI single.
Against Mt. Hood on Saturday,
Needham and Warthen picked up
3-0 and 4-0 wins. Vanessa
Applegate was 2-3 scoring twice
in the first game while Summer
Conroy was 2-3 with a single and a
double and one run scored.
“Mel had a two-hitter on Friday
and a four-hitter on Saturday,”
noted Fiskum. “It’s sure nice to
have someone go throw shutouts
and you don’t even feel surprised.
She’s having a heck of a year so
far.”
Warthen’s earned run average is
0.82.
Unofficially; the Cougars are 5-1 in
league play and 7-2-1 overall. The con
ference doesn’t recognize ties, how
ever, so the overall record is officially
listed at 7-2 overall.
Clackamas hosts Southwestern Or
egon in adoubleheadertoday at2 p.m.
* This is your
Starting
Point.
It all begins with education. And there’s no better
place to get a first-class education than the Air
Force Reserve. Whether you have your sights set
on health care or electronics, we'll give you the
skills to succeed with:
• Over $9,000 toward college with the
Montgomery 010111
• College credits through the Community
College of the Air Force
• State-of-the-art high tech training that
will increase your value in the civilian
job market
Call 1-800-257-1212
In the process, you'll earn an extra paycheck,
outstanding benefits, and opportunities to travel.
All for a commitment of 1 weekend a month and
2 weeks a year.
A irforce
R eserve
ABOVE Q. BEYOND
Visit our web site at www.afreserve.com