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