4 the clackamas print
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Improving Cougars keep heads u
A rough start to a
promising baseball
season does not
sway the up-and-
coming Cougars
By Robert Morrison
The Clackamas Print
Brad Heineke Clackamas Print
Cougars pitcher Cody Ching delivers a pitch as pitching coach
Mick Eilet looks on. Ching has only pitched one inning so far.
Baseball coach brings
infield and team together
By James Duncan
The Clackamas Print
Trevor Rooper, the infield
coach for the Clackamas
Community College baseball
team, plans to help lead the
team to a solid victory.
Rooper played for CCC in
the late ’90s about 13 years
ago.
“I played a little for Robbie
and my little brother played
for him in 96,” said Rooper.
Head
coach
Robbie
Robinson said, “He would
have been one of the best.”
Then in 2005 Rooper went
on to be the head coach for a
team in the Netherlands out
side Amsterdam and later in
his career coaching for anoth
er team in Australia in the
winter of 2007.
Now Rooper has been the
assistant coach for three years.
“I think we’ve been getting
better every year since I’ve
been here ... we can go to
the NWAACC tournament and
win it,” said Rooper. “You
have to get first or second in
your league and then you go
to the playoff tournament in
Longview. We did that last
year for the first time in 15
years, and I’m hoping to go
back there and do the best I
can.”
NWAACC is the parent
organization for 35 commu
nity colleges in the states
of Washington and Oregon.
Clackamas currently has a
.600 PCT according to the
NWAACC Web site, putting it
number two among teams in
the southern region.
“He’s a great guy; he’s a
great coach; he knows the
game really well. He loves
the game, he loves coming out
here all the time and show
ing us different things,” said
shortstop Isaiah Ferrer. “He
taught me so much last year
and what to do with fielding
and throwing the ball that I
had never learned before, and
he’s probably one of the best
coaches I had as an infielder.”
Everyone has only positive
things to say about Rooper.
“He’s a great coach and he
brings a lot of energy. He’s
really fun. He knows what
he’s talking about. Had a lot
of good drills. Makes us work
hard for sure,” said second
baseman Johnny Wade.
Robinson said, “He’s got
great wisdom. He coaches a
lot more like a player still. He
hasn’t been out there as a head
coach very much. He has been
coaching in whatever capac
ity. A great young man. We are
trying to get him to go back
to school ... to give himself
another chance. He is a pay
ers coach ... he talks to the
players like they talk, is down
to earth, he is the straight line
to the kids ... the kids just love
him. He has such an impact on
players. They like to listen to
him talk, he has got real good
words to say.”
Being runner up is never as
good as winning and that is
where Clackamas finished last
year in the NWAACC South
Region for baseball.
The Cougars finished 10
games back of favorite Mt.
Hood. Last year was the first
time in nearly a decade that
Clackamas made the NWAACC
playoffs. This year, the team
has high hopes to make it
far into the NWAACC play
offs and winning the South
Region.
David Greenstein, All
Region sophomore outfielder
and pitcher for Clackamas,
said, “I think that we can go
deep into the tournament and
win the South Region.”
Going into the April 20
game against Chemeketa, the
Cougars have a record of 6-4
in the league and 11-12 for the
season. The Cougars are sec
ond in the South Region.
“We started off the season
good but fell off for a time and
are gaining our form back,”
said Isaiah Ferrer.
The year has gone good so
far in the players’ eyes, and
they look forward to making
even more improvements from
last year.
“Our teamwork is our big
gest improvement from last
year,” said Taylor Hill, a soph
omore starting pitcher that
made the switch from reliever
this year. Hill is also an All-
Regional, Gold Glove, and
All-NWAACC player for his
position.Greenstein and Ferrer
both said that they thought that
the biggest improvement was
the hitting; every player in the
lineup could hit the ball.
Rayce Belmont, an out
fielder for Clackamas, said, “I
look forward to making a run
and trying to make a little gap
between us and the rest of the
teams.”
When asked about his per
sonal improvement, Belmont
said, “I think my biggest
improvement is my patience
at the plate and my confidence
at the plate.”
The Cougars have a number
of players that received vari
ous honors last year returning
this year for another chance
to prove that they have the
stuff to win. This year’s team
is a variety of both freshmen
and sophomores. They hold a
lot of experience in what has
started off as another playoff
run for the Cougars. There
still are a number of games
left to be played and accord
ing to the players, the sky is
the limit,
The next game at Clackamas
will be played on April 22,
and like all games this sea
son, it will be a double-head
er. To see dates and times
of future games, visit the
Cougars Athletics link on
the Clackamas Community
College Web site.
Cougars Baseball
March 25-Game On
Clackamas 5
Green River 9
April 8-Game One;
Clackamas 4
SW Oregon 1
Game Two:
Clackamas 4
SW Oregon 3
April 10-Game Onj
Clackamas 3
Lane 5
Game Two:
Clackamas 6
Lane 1
April 13-Game On
Clackamas 7
Mt. Hood 2
Game Two:
Clackamas 3
Mt. Hood 4
April 15-Game On
Clackamas 13
Chemeketa 8
Game Two:
Clackamas 3
Chemeketa 0
April 17-Game On
Clackamas 1
SW Oregon 2
Game Two:
Clackamas 3
SW Oregon 11