Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (May 13, 2015)
6 CLACKAMAS PRINT • MAY 13,2015 Left: Cougar Pitcher My chai Yarbor, sophomore at CCC, throws against Clark College during a home game. Top rig ht Cougar baseball players support fellow teammates at bat from the dugout. Bottom right: First baseman Taylor Tib- bets, freshman, bats against the Clark Penguins during a game last week. There’s no place like home plate Cougar baseball team struggles to succeed this season by Katie Archer A te a m can only clim b to th e to p w hen th e y have reached th e bottom . The Clackamas Community College Cou gars finished the 2015 baseball season last In th e ir division, finishing 14-26. Head coach Jim Hoppel, w ho was an assistant coach fo r 14 years, took over the baseball program last March. As the head coach, Hoppel wants to make the changes necessary to get players to CCC and turn the program around. Approaching his first year as a head coach, he said, “The biggest thing for me was just trying to get guys to learn how to w in at the program. To teach these guys th a t w inning is good, and you can still win," said Hoppel. “ Unfortunately, we d id n ’t play as well as we could’ve." The team g o t along w ell and d id n ’t struggle w ith issues o f guys th in kin g they were better than th e ir teammates. Hoppel has seen similar problems In the past from guys and things didn’t go well. Leading the team batting average at .286, Corey W ynant is a third-year soph om ore transfer from Lane Community College. W ynant has no regrets leaving Lane, one o f the to p teams in the divi sion, to play fo r CCC. “I think Jim is a great coach and I think he’s going to turn the program around pretty quickly," said Wynant. “This year is a steppingstone. It’s never easy fo r someone to come in and take the pro gram and be s u p p e r good all o f a sudden." The Cougars d e a lt w ith a 12-game losing streak in the m iddle o f the season. “ In certain cases, we d id n ’t th ro w strikes,” said fre s h m a n fir s t basem an Taylor Tib- bets. “Some attitudes w e re n ’t th e b e s t a t tim e s . N o b o d y w as p e rfe c t, e v e ry b o d y had th e ir o w n little mistakes. It was a team effort. It’s a team sport; th a t’s just how It goes.” A t one early A p ril gam e a g a inst a tough atmosphere to be in,” said Hop- hopeful fo r the future of CCC baseball. pel. “They to o k th a t pretty hard as a There is a stronger focus on recruiting team." from Hoppel and the other coaches. Sophomore pitcher Stephen Parker Sophom ore p itch e r Mychal Yarbor had pitched an eighth-inning shutout said, “ He (Hoppel) definitely helps you a g a in s t L in n -B e n to n get recruited, I know that. As a sopho C o m m u n ity C o lle g e more, he gets your name out there. And and had the ball pulled I think th a t’s why we have so many new from him going into the guys in. He worked his b u tt o ff in the ninth. summer and before fall ball.". “Those still kill me to “ I appreciate our coaches this year. th is day,” said Parker. They w orked hard. They did stu ff d if “Yeah it still affects me. ferently this year than last year," said It’s still klnda tough to Achenbach, who will be attending Okla w atch a gam e go like homa Wesleyan University. “ It may not that. I still haven’t fully have done anything this year but, I think, recovered fro m th a t. over time the program is definitely going It show s on m y sta t to get a lot better." sheet. Those are tough This year Hoppel gave his sophomores to swallow.” a lot more responsibility during this sea The lo sin g stre a k son. The team picked captains and did ended w ith a 4 -3 w in drills on th e ir own. Practices included against Lane Commu more stretching and a w eight program nity College. Wins continued to come4 to help all the players Improve. and so did more losses. “This is an up and coming program,” “We took too many (losses) to learn, is said W ynant. “Don’t d o u b t Clackamas w hat I think,” said sophomore shortstop because, you know w hat, th e y’ll bite Trevor Achenbach. you in the butt.” Despite the hard season, players are “Don’t doubt Clackamas because you know what, they'll bite you in the butt.” -Corey Wynant Linn-B enton C om m unity College, th e Cougars were leading into the ninth in ning, 7-0, and three outs away from a win. They lo s t “Took the w ind out o f our sails. It was
