Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (April 15, 2009)
lackamas Print Sports 7 Wednesday, April 15, 2009 ugars fight despite injuries ars play hard due t h and injuries k. The bat strikes the nding it flying through The bat falls to the dirt ■small thud as the hitter ff towards first base, but s no difference: the bat- week’s bright, sunny y was a day of sun- | and relaxing. It also ed to be a chance for ugars to defend their rf against the Mt. Hood Hood is the team to beat ir,” said Jim Hoppel, the |e head coach. [Saints have been beat competition throughout son, and they continued [at their best this past ■he Cougars rose to the ^Kge however, throwing [too fast to see and hit- ___ I balls high into the air. B f|r th is season, the Cougars bnaged to stay in the top onto-the field after pulling his echoed by Baffaro. hamstring. “We’ve got to play as a “I’m focusing on get-- team.” ting back in the game,” said . There are 20 games left in Baffaro. the season and plenty of chanc The Cougars are focused es to come out on top. on playing as a team. Having such a young five. team means throwing Currently the rookies into the resting in fourth place, game. the team has had just as many “It gives the young wins as losses, standing at 12- • er guys a chance to 12-1, with one tie. grow up quick,” says “We’re really young,” said Christensen. first baseman, A.J. Christensen. This year, the “The. guys show up to play hard sophomore is getting everyday. That’s all that mat some attention from ters.” pro-scouts. Although Showing up everyday is it’s a lot of pressure, important this season since the Christensen finds it team is so small. entertaining. “We’ve, lost a lot of guys “I really just try to to grades,” says Hoppel. “We go out there and have need to keep everybody healthy fun like I’ve done and have positive energy.” since I was little.” With 10 pitchers left in the The season is far bull pit, the team has got from over, and ten Used to playing every the team inning of the game, hopeful which can sometimes the results. result is minor “We’ve ‘got injuries. to stay on track Third and stay posi baseman, tive,”- says Giuseppe Robert Crawford Clackamas Print Hoppel,. Robert Crawford Clackamas Print “G” Baffaro, is final Brenden Landwehr, a sophomore, a remark Sophomore Derek Davis aims to strike out ly able to walk back sends the ball flying before running to first. that’s his opponent. tball snags two is from tournament Fleet feet rise to occasion .Mark Foster 'Clackamas Print Kayla Berge Clackamas Print fWinningham, a sophomore, hones in her skills at |k Sunderland ckamas Print [seas.on is off to a good [th a three to one win/ lio at last weekend’s up at Mt. Vernon, Wash, lackamas Cougars are t some fresh new tal- ^Bd a good take off from ^Bckcnd’s games. Megan |M)n. a freshman pitcher f^HCougars, said she was SI about the outcome ■weekend’s games and ___ It that they went well. ^Bb Morrill, a returning plays center field, Believed the games went Jessica Buel looks forward to the new season, and she enjoys working with a. highly talented team of students. When asked who her best players were, she replied that she thought they were all great players, and it was more of a team effort than any one individual. “I play to be part of a team,” Morrill said when asked what she liked about softball. She said also liked how the team was diverse. “We all come from .different social groups,” Morrill said. Megan Peterson plays the sport because she finds it both fun and competitive. The season looks promis ing with the strong new talent and strong team oriented belief held by the coach and the play- The April 4 track and field meet showed promise for the Cougars, who displayed numer ous outstanding performances at Willamette University. . Sophomore Kaitlyn Reid moved into eighth place in the college’s history with a time of 1:05.33 in the 400 meter ‘hurdles.' Freshman Demarcus Gamer of Mt. Tahoma High School set a personal record in the 100 meter dash with a time of 10.88, shaving off four- tenths of a second from his pre vious best and finishing fourth in the men’s 100 meter dash. Coach Keoni McHone said, “The strong performances we saw on Saturday were partly due to the good weather.” But, she also added, “Strong head winds caused problems for vaulters.” Freshman Ashley Braniff also had a breakout day fin- ishing the 5000 meter run in 19:34.38, a 27 second improve ment from her previous per sonal record. Heading in to the second half of the season, the Cougars have had decent coverage from both- the men and women and are looking to make a lot of noise at the NWAACC champi onships on May 21-22. McHone noted that the toughest competition will most likely come from Spokane and Lane community colleges, as well as the Mt. Hood wom en’s team who boasted eight top three finishes at their most recent meet. Wesley Keller, considered one of the top sprinters in the conference, is also looking to take the NWAACC champion ships by storm. Keller is cur- rently ranked fourth in the 100 meter dash and first in the 200 meter dash in the conference. Venezuelan born Keisa Monterola is also one to look out for. Monterola finished sec ond at the World Junior Track and Field Championships in pole vaulting. Monterola, who hopes to transfer to the University of Washington next year, is cur rently studying English at Clackamas and competed in her first meet of the season on April 10. Her last meet was nearly seven months ago, but said she is excited to be back. The Cougars next meet is Friday, April 24 at 1:15 p.m. in Eugene at Hayward Field, on the University of Oregon cam pus. This is a two day event, and it will be broadcast on both the Oregon Sports Network and Comcast Sports Network Northwest. Mark roster Clackamas Print Runners from several colleges leap over hurdles to finish first at Willamette University on Saturday, April 4. ’7
