8 The Clackamas Print
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
sportsed@ clackam as.edu
Efforts
Softball punches ticket to cham pionship
By John William Howard
Sports Editor
f
By the time the fifth inning
rolled around, it wasn’t even
a game anymore. Clackamas
Community College pitcher
Noelle Wright - bobbled the
softball in her hand, two outs
remaining, The Mt. Hood
Community College -bench
had stopped their chanting.
Even they knew that the game
was over, as they trailed 20-6
and tiptoed the edge of elimi
nation. As head coach Jessica
Buel shouted to “finish this,”
Wright threw the pitch. The
batter connected, sending the
ball directly into the glove of
left fielder Caitlyn Ftasier, end
ing the inning;
The Clackamas play
ers didn’t scream and shout,
but calmly made their way
to home plate for ‘post game
pleasantries. Their dominant
victory over Southern Region
rival and three-time defend
ing NWAACC champion Mt.
Hood earned them something
more important: a birth in the
NWAACC title game for the
first time since 2007.
However easy the win over
Mt. Hood might have seemed,
it was the last piece in. a long
road to the finals and the fifth
elimination game in a row that
Clackamas had to win.
„ The tournament began on
Friday, May 18 at Delta Park
ih Portland, where Clackamas
easily dispatched Shoreline.
Community College in a five--
inning, 8-0 victory. In the sec
ond round, just a few hours
later, the Cougars struggled to,
get their bats working against
Mt. Hood in their first meet
ing. They found themselves
down 3-2 in the top of the
seventh inning with two outs
and runners on first and third.
McKenzie Marshall’s grounder
was picked up by the Saints
pitcher and thrown to, first,
handing Clackamas their first
loss of the double elimination
tournament and sending them
to the loser’s bracket.
Clackamas came back the
next day, knowing that losing
any one of the three games they
had scheduled would eliminate
them from the competition.
Clackamas-started the next
day . against Pierce College,
and lea 6-2 after five innings.-
Marshall, who started the game
as pitcher, struck out.one bat
ter for the first out of the fifth
inning. On the next at bat with
two runners on base, Ashley
Bezdicek of Pierce knocked
the first pitch out of the park
for a three run homer, mak
ing a game of things yet again.
Marshall smiled and hirnded
things off to Wright, who
closed out the game and iced
Clackamas players cheer together afterheating Bellevue 5 - 4 in the bottom o f the seventh inning. Tosha
Silvius h it 0 w alk o ff single to drive K atie Aden home, ending the inning.
the 6-5 victory for the Cougars.
Treasure Valley Community
College was next up for
Clackamas, who kept things
rolling with a 9-0 rout of the
Chukars to advance to the final
game of the day, where they
would face the Douglas College
Royals. Marshall pitched three
innings for the Cougars, ■giv-
ing up seven hits and three
runs ¡fefcge being relieved by,
Wright. Clackamas gave up just
one more run in the final four
innings and scored three more
of- their own, getting the 6-4
victory.
. If was the end of a long
day for Wright, who started a
Above left:, Sophomore M cKenzie M a rsh a ff pitches
during the< game against Pierce College difSaturday,.
M ay 1 9 :M arshall startedtw o games fo r Clackamas on
Saturday an d two on Sunday.
Middle: Noelle Wright looks to close out the game
against M t. Hood. Clackamas won the game 20-6,
knocking M t. H ood fro m the tournam ent an d advanc-
in g to the N W A A C C championship game.
Bottom right: Freshman Elis'e Breshears slides in to
home plate during the game against Pierce on Saturday, M ay 19. Clackamas beat Pierce
6 -5 'in the fir s t o f fiv e consecutive eliminationgam es that: the Cougars won.
Clackamas vs. Lower Columbia on Wednesday, May 23 at 2 p.m. at Delta
Park, Portland.
game of her own and closed
out two others. Wright said
she had a good day, and that
she never lost confidence in
her teammates even when the
opposition made a rally.
“We kne’w we 1 could hold
em,” W dghfsaidf
Despite the next day’s cooler
weather, a heated battle raged
Sunday morning between
Clackarnas^ and
Belleyye,
College. Bellevue, who swept
the league’s Northern Region
with ease, jumped out to an
early lead with fo'ur runs in
the top of the first inning.
Clackamas mounted their
Comeback in the third, scoring
a three run homer from Tasha
Silvius to make it 4-3. Megan
Malvick. scored on a double in
the fifth inning to tie the game.
The score held, and both teams
found themselves tied and- fac
ing elimination in the bottom
of the seventh.
Clackamas hit trouble ^get
ting things going in the inning,
and had just, Katie Aden on
base with two outs. .'Then
Silvius' sent a single to center
field and Aden took off, round
ing second and third before
sliding home and bringing her
teammates shouting from the
dugout.
The Cougars celebrated
for a short time, blit soon
turned their attention to the
slug fest taking place next
door between Mt. Hood, and
Lower Columbia. LCG eventu
ally won. 21-16, coming from
behind and exhausting , each
of Mt. Hood’s pitchers. That
set up the game between Mt.
Hood and Clackamas to* be a
one sided blowout and making
the way clear for Clackamas’
appearance in the NWAACC
championship.
Clackariias will face Lower
Columbia for the NWAACC
championship on Wednesday,
May 23 at 2 p.nf. Because Lower
Columbia has not lost yet in
the tournament, Clackamas
must win two games to claim
a title.