The Clackamas print., May 23, 2018, Page 7, Image 7

STORY AND PHOTOS JACOB THOMPSON
SPORTS EDITOR
He sits in the bullp en
waiting, waiting for pitching
coach Je ff Lahti to give him
the signal “ get him
h o t .” He springs
from the b en ch ,
grabs h is m ask
and gets the next
pitcher loose and
then he returns to the
bench. His name is
Zach Montero and he
is the bullpen catcher.
Montero is currently
in his redshirt season,
w hich m eans he is
in e lig ib le to p lay,
but unlike the other
redshirts Who m ight
keep the scorebook or
chase down foul balls,
Montero has a role that
can affect .the outcome of
the game without stepping
onto the field.
“ It’s rough [not playing],”
Montero said. “ But I’m just
glad to be a part of the team.
BROTHERS
GLEASON
STORY BY JAC O B THOM PSON
SPORTS EDITOR
Pulling onto campus in a yellow 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt
are a pair of brothers. The younger, a relief pitcher,
the older a catcher, both playing for Clackamas. Hip-
hop plays as Cody Gleason tries to wake up Cameron
We.have a great group of guys and I’m excited for the
next two years.”
Montero grew up in Banks, Oregon where he started
playing baseball at four years old, originally as a
shortstop. His father and coach, Dave, moved him to
catcher one day and it stuck. After Montero’s family
moved to Arizona his eighth grade year, he started to
feel like baseball was the sport for him,
“ The baseball com petition is crazy down tin
Arizona],” Montero said. “ You got ex-Major League
guys’ kids you’re playing with, guys are throwing low
90s in high school^ a lot of Division-one players, guys
getting drafted. Down there baseball’s a lifestyle not
just a sport.”
Now back in Oregon, the hardest transition for
Montero has been the weather,
“ Our first game was up at Lower Columbia [College];
it’s 38 degrees and I’m freezing sitting in the bullpen/
Montero said with a smile. “ I called my mom after and
I was like ‘what did I do.’ After sixth months I’ve kind
of got used to it.”
* Montero’ s biggest goal in the bullpen is to keep thè
atmosphere light.
“ A lot of times relievers get put in tough situations,”
Montero said. “ You have to keep them up and keep
them stress-free. As much as I can keep them laughing
that’ s my main goal,”
The relievers agree that Montero does a great job as
bullpen catcher.
“ [Montero] always has a lot of energy,” freshman
Gleason who’s been up all-night playiiig Fortnite.
The Gleasons both changed positions late in their
careers. Cameron Gleason was an outfielder until his
very end o f his senior year of high school and Cody
Gleason played shortstop until his freshman season
of high school. Now the brothers work together as
pitcher and catcher.
“ h ’s not horrible,” Cody Gleason Said “ I didn’t expect
[Cameron] to be very good, but he is. When he gets
down on himself I just go out there and I tell him ‘he’s
a piece of s - - - ’ and he gets back into it. He just does
his thing up there and I like it<”
“ I prefer [having Cody] catch merbut I pitch to all the
catchers,” Cameron Gleason said. “ I prefer Cody the
most because he knows my stuff better than everyone
else.”
The brothers’ working relationship reflects a lot of
how they grew up, admittedly at each other’s* throats
like brothers tend to be, Still arguing about who bested
who in schoolyard fights, but the brothers get along
nicely on rides to and from practice.
“ It’s not bad,” Cody Gleason said. “ He usually sleeps
on the way here and on the way home he falls asleep
too, it’s pretty nice.”
On the field the brothers get along well, but still have
their disagreements.
“ He gives me good advice most the tim e,” Cameron
Gleason said. “ But when he says stupid s— like ‘just
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pitcher Derek Eubanks said. “ He always gets me
pumped up and works on my spots. He helps me
perform the way th a tJ do.”
As much as Montero keeps it light in the bullpen,
he also keeps it light.outside of baseball, said Mason
Schimmel, freshman pitcher and Montero’s roommate.
“ Every morning he comeé into my bedroom and wakes
me up by saying ‘come on baby Schiiir, ” Schimmel said
while holding back a laugh. “ When he’s around your
day just lights n p.”
throw a strike’ it pisses me off because that’ s what
I’m trying to do.”
Even though the brothers don’t always see eye to
eye, they want to see each other do well: Cody Gleason ,
saying that he was proud of Cameron Gleason’ s
performance this year and Cameron Gleason hoping
Cody succeeds at the next level.
Next year w ill be —
the first time the
brothers don’t live
to g e th e r durin g
the baseball season
and they are trying
tb prepare
for the
change.
“ I’m usually
up all n igh t
liste n in g to
[C a m e ro n ]
play Fortnite,”
CodyGleason
said. “ That’ll
be n ice, but
it ’ ll be weird
not having him
around.” ,
As fox Cameron Gleason,
he said h e ’ll miss the car
CodyQ ^ n catching
rides.
Nay 21, 2018