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