The Clackamas print., April 17, 2019, Page 7, Image 7

BY JACOB THOMPSON
SPORTS EDITOR @SPORTSEDTHQMPS X
Sophomore pitcher Austin Butenchoe took the mound
The Cougars offense has struggled all season,
in relief for Derek Eubanks to start the seventh com bining for a team battin g average o f .211.
inning during game one of a four-gam e series with1 Clackamas has scored a meek 89 runs, which ranks
Ghemeketa Community College on April 12.
fifth worst in the NWAC, and hit only four home runs.
Eubanks was b rillia n t, throw ing five in n in gs, In comparison, last year’ s squad had 23 home runs.
surrendering one hit and striking out four batters.
“ We need to have better at b a ts,” sophomore
Despite not allowing an earned run,£ubanks left the outfielder Tyler Jewett said. “ We are not adjusting
game with Chemeketa leading 2-0.
to an 0-2 count and I think more people are swinging
Now it was up to Butenchoe to keep Clackamas for themselves rather for the team and that needs
close. The first batter Butenchoe singled, the second to change.”
hit the ball back to him , but he botched the throw
It doesn’ t get much better for Clackamas defensively
and the runner reached first safely.
5 either. The Cougars have committed 65 errors (second
W ith runners on first and third for Chem eketa, worst in NWAC). Zach Montero thinks the weather
Butenchoe balked, advancing the runners and giving could be impacting the Cougars fielding performance.
Chem eketa a ^-0 lead. Chem eketa’ s runner stole
“ I think a lot of it has to do with we don’t get a
third and Butenchoe threw a wild pitch that scored lot of on-field time because of the rain we’re in the
the runner on third. 4-0 Chemeketa. Butenchoe had gym a lo t,” redshirt catcher freshman Zach Montero
one more wild pitch in the inning before giving up said. “ We don’t get to see a lot of live grounders and
another single that scored'a run. 5-0 Chemeketa.
our field isn’t the best quality so it’ s hard to judge
Freshman pitcher Brandon Cervantes came into where balls are going to g o .”
the game to relieve Butenchoe. Cervantes hit the
Clackam as’ pitching staff has combined for an
first batter he faced and then gave up a grand slam to earned run average of 7.81 and given up 155 earned
make it 9-0 Chemeketa. This is the current state of runs. Sophomore pitcher Joe Cassidy has both of
the Clackamas Community College’s baseball team. the two wins credited to the staff. Cassidy has 24
Clackamas is 3-21 overall this year and after being strikeouts and an ERA of 3.42. Eubanks has the most
swept by Lane and Chemeketa are 0-8 in league play. strikeouts with 25 and has thrown 31 innings for the
After finishing three games short of the playoffs Cougars but has a record of 0-4.
last year, it seemed Clackamas was making headway
“ My last two outings were pretty decent, but I kind
towards their goa^of ending the program’ s playoff of got left in too long in my opinion,” Eubanks said.
draught. Clackamas had high hopes in the off-season “ I kind o f just gained some confidence in myself the
for the upcoming season, a very competitive run in last couple weeks and I haven’t walked anyone in
the preseason, but now finds itself in the midst of a my last two games so I’m feeling good about that
15-game losing streak and the hope, if it still exists, as w ell.”
is dying one game at a time.
Despite the awful start for Clackamas, they sit just
“ We have a lot o f injuries, some guys that are four games back from a super-regional bid. But the.
not eligible right now. W e’ve got five or six guys question is, can the Cougars shake off the bad start
that should be in the lineup right now that aren’t ,” and find a way to win? Montero believes the chemistry
Head Coach Jim Hoppel said. “ It’s been a struggle. has to change before the performance can.
Obviously when you’ re not hitting the ball and you’re
“ We need to get the family aspect back together,
making the same mistakes over and over again you’re have fun with each other and try to win a couple
not going to Score a lo t of runs.”
games at least,” Montero said. “ It’s not that easy
Clackamas Print
th e c la c k a m a s p r in t.c o m
to stay positive when losing. When you’re in a game
for four innings and then it’ s gone because of a lack
of defense, a lack of pitching and a lack of offense,
it’s rough to stay together.”
The Cougars open a four-gam e series at home
versus Southwest Oregon Comm unity College (9-
15, 2-6) Friday at 1 p.m . Hoppel hopes his team can
let the tension of the bad season go and just enjoy
the game.
“ They just gotta play more loose,” Hoppel said.
“ They just need to play the game like they know
how to play. Like they say, ‘it’ s a kids’ game/ play
it like th at.”
Derek Eubanks pitched six innings on April 12
against Chemeketa. Despite giving up no earned
runs he left the game trailing 2-0 and was charged
with the loss.
April 17, 2019