Freshmen hope for big wins
STORY A N D PHOTO BY DOUG FRY
Com ing o ff o f a five-w in season, the
Clackamas Community College baseball
team has high expectations for the spring
of 2017. The Cougars have 12 returners on
a 35-man roster. W ith new faces and a
strong freshmen class, they are optimistic
for the upcoming season.
In his third year as the skipper of the
baseball team , coach Jim Hoppel sees
their fall baseball season as a step in the
right direction.
“ We’ve had a very good fall, and guys
were hitting the ball w ell,” said Hoppel.
“ We played defense well. Pitching staff is
going to be doing good. Our expectations,
for all the coaches, is that we’ll have a
really good year.”
Hitting coach Jackson Gillett was also
very happy with the bats in fa ll ball
compared to last season.
“ We’ve got a lot of power this year,”
said Gillet. “ We h it four home runs in
five games, where we had two all of last
year [ spring] as a team. ”
W ith a freshm en-loaded roster, the
Cougars’ coaching staff plans to see
immediate results knowing that success
and winning is what their new recruits
are used to
“ M ost o f our position guys w ill be
starting freshmen,” said Hoppel. “ They’ll
be a little bit inexperienced, but a very
talented group. They know how to win
and they know how to play. ”
The recruiting class that cam e to
Clackam as this year is comparable to
m any four-year universities, and the
coaches plan to reflect that with their
play on the field.
“ We are so excited about the recruiting
class that we’ve got com ing in ,” said
Gillett. “ We talked to coaches from DI
schools and they are often surprised when
they hear about some of the guys we were
able to get. So we are com ing in with
expectations to make the playoffs. We
have a boatload of talent and hardworking,
good kids.” *
Having prior ties to coach Gillett makes
the transition to CCC easier for freshman
Tyler Parker and his former high school
teammates.
“ Coach Gillett was the coach at Liberty
for us for three years, so having those four
former Liberty Falcons, we already know
him ,” said Parker. “Also, he was a former
Marine, so we [Parker and Gillett] have
The Clackamas baseball team practices in the infield on Monday, Feb. 13.
that connection there. With the four of
us already having that connection, I think
he expects a little more of us and for us to
set the example o f working hard.”
After a year off from baseball, Parker
has high expectations for his team.
“ I took a year off and joined the Marines
and got all my training done for th at,”
said Parker. “ Mostly, I’m just excited to
get back to playing the sport I love. This
year we have a really young team. We are
going to try to grow at the start of the
season and get to where we need to be to
make a run at the NWAC tournament.”
Fellow freshman Renner Stecki plans
on making the most of his first year in
college baseball and wants to improve as
an individual and as a team.
“ I,hope we grow as a team, win games
and achieve the goals we’ve set for our
season. I want to increase velocity in my
pitching, keep consistent in the infield
and improve my h ittin g,” said Stecki.
“ I’m looking forward to getting my name
out there.”
The Cougars have all bought in to the
goals the coaching staff has set and look
forward to starting a new chapter in
Clackamas baseball.
They will play their first set of games
this season on March 4 against Pacific
University and will begin league play on
March 31 at home against Linn-Benton
Community College.
“ I hope we grow as
a team, win games
and achieve the goals
we've set for our
season.”
-R enner Stecki
Clackamas Print FEBRUARY 22,20J7-theclackamasprintcom 7