TCP; Cougar baseball swings into season

This article originally ran at www.theclackamasprint.com. Too see the original, click here.

David Beasley, Sports Editor
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Volume 47, Issue 14
Sports

March is just around the corner and that means it will be time for baseball. In this frigid winter season, the men of Cougar baseball have been diligently honing their skills for spring. Cougar freshman Cody Watkins is one of the hard working Clackamas athletes practicing for spring season.

“It’s slow right now because we can’t go outside,” said Watkins. “Just trying to get prepared inside before the weather gets good.”

The team has been acclimating to college ball and learning to work together. They have been hard at work all school year. The Cougars hope to translate their synergy into success against the competition during spring season.

“We’ve been together since fall,” said Watkins. “It’s nice to have that bond. There’s a lot of us coming out of high school where we use aluminum bats. Getting used to wood bats is different, takes some pop off your swing, bunting is easier.”

Some of the team is new and some are veterans, but they all have room to improve and they have been consistent on that goal. Cougar Hayden Heying has enjoyed building the team’s prowess throughout the year and is excited for spring.

“We’ll be the sleeper team of the league,” said Heying. “Trying to get stronger, throw harder. Trying to get one of the starting roles. We’re working pretty good, team chemistry seems to be pretty good.”

The NWAACC rules allow baseball to include an unofficial fall and winter schedule before they start the regular spring season. The Cougars fall season is from Sept. 15 to Nov. 15. Nov. and Dec. are for conditioning only. Winter baseball is Jan. 15 to March 1, then spring season starts. During the Spring baseball is allowed 22 game days against opponents. Spring season lasts until June 1.

The weather hasn’t allowed for any pre-season games since fall, but that didn’t stop the Cougars from improving. Shortstop Taren Bradd is excited for Spring too. He enjoys the teamwork in baseball and looks for the hard hits. Like his teammates, he has been honing his game in order to perform at maximum capacity.

“I’ve been working on hitting, staying inside the ball and becoming a leader,” said Bradd. “My favorite part of baseball is hitting line-drives, hitting the ball hard and making plays.”

Head Coach Robin Robinson has been teaching and coaching at Clackamas since 1990. He has seen his fair share of various teams with different skill levels to work with. Robinson is impressed with his team this year. He welcomes the talented returners and looks forward to seeing the team perform in league.

“I feel really good about the sophomore returners,” said Robinson. “Good group of sophomore kids. The depth of our pitching is better than we’ve had in years.”

With such dedication towards practice, Clackamas is off to a good start this year. The coming season will test their strength as a team. The Cougars first four games of the spring season are set for this weekend against Spokane in The Dalles. They will play two games on Saturday and two on Sunday.

TCP; Softball team sweeps doubleheader, prepares for NWAACC Championships

This article originally ran at www.theclackamasprint.com. Too see the original, click here.

David Beasley, Associate Editor
Wednesday, May 08, 2013
Volume 46, Issue 20
sports

The ladies of Clackamas Community College softball eagerly secured an early victory in the first game of a doubleheader against Lower Columbia Red Devils on Saturday at home. Showing their will for victory, Clackamas scored a run in the first inning and two in the second, laying the foundation for the 3-1 win.

The Cougars are playing good ball right now, but head coach Jessica Buel is always looking for improvement.

“It’s just about getting better every game and every at bat to prepare for NWAACCs,” said Buel. Buel has also been impressed with the multitude of players that have been stepping up lately for the Cougars.
“I don’t know if I could single one person out, actually it’s probably been someone different every day and everyone’s been contributing so that’s been huge,” said Buel.

The team confidence was evident from the moment the team cheered a rally cry of “CCC!” to begin the game. The momentum and power of the Clackamas team was comparable to the crashing gusts of wind blowing through the home field. The sun was beating down, increasing the intensity of the atmosphere. Loud booming music between plays, constant team cheers and chants set a soundtrack for the event.

The Cougars defended the first inning and no runs were scored by Red Devils. Clackamas’ first batter of the day was freshman Rachel Ray. With a running start, she hit the ball to left field low and with amazing momentum, barreled through Lower Columbia infielder Jessica McDonald at first base, then kept going to score Clackamas’ first run. The crowd cheered. “I wanna’ see that again,” said one fan.

In the second inning, Clackamas freshman Taylor Gould hit the ball on the ground to center. It was thrown to first by a Red Devil but first base missed the ball so Gould was safe. She then stole second during a bunt attempt, before scoring the Cougars second run on freshman Kiara Vasquez’ hit. Vasquez made it to third base and then home during another Ray hit. At the end of the second inning Clackamas led 3-0.

The next three innings were very defensive and some solid plays were made by both teams. In the sixth inning, Red Devils freshman Haley Hibbs hit the ball straight at Cougar pitcher Alyson Boytz, who almost caught the ball, but it hit so hard it knocked her glove off. Hibbs made it safely to first. Clackamas sophomore Lucy Baldovino replaced Boytz as pitcher. Still no runs were scored by Lower Columbia in the sixth inning.

Like two weather systems crashing together, the seventh inning was a powerful struggle. Red Devils freshman Bethany Burch hit the ball all the way to the fence and eventually scored Lower Columbia’s first run during Ashley Wells’ hit. The last batter of game one was Red Devils sophomore Mackenzie Martin who hit it high to centerfield where Clackamas’ outfielder made a nice home for it in her glove. Game one was over as the Cougars defeated the Red Devils 3-1.

The Cougars rallied in the second game, scoring four runs in the fifth and one in the seventh to pull out a 9-8 victory. Leadoff batter Ray had four hits and three runs scored to lead the Cougars. Rashaun Sells added three hits, including a home run, while driving in three runs. Kayla Stevens added three hits and Gould homered in the win. Boytz pitched the final three innings to get her second win of the day, pushing her record to 11-3 on the season.

Buel was excited to get the doubleheader sweep over Lower Columbia.
“I’m very proud of our team,” said Buel. “We had to fight back and we came back in that second game and we played our game and did what we needed to do to win the game and that’s what matters.”

Clackamas (12-4 in S. Region, 25-13 overall) is guaranteed to finish in the top three of the region standings for a 15th consecutive season and is currently in second place, trailing Mt. Hood by one-half game. Mt. Hood has won 11 straight games overall and seven in a row in league to get back into the race. The Cougars hosted the Saints in a very important doubleheader on Tuesday at 3 p.m., but results were not available at press time.

The Cougars stay home for their last games of the regular season, hosting a doubleheader against Clark CC on Saturday beginning at noon. The Cougars are eyeing the NWAACC Championships from May 17-20 at Delta Park in Portland for a season ending flourish.

TCP; CCC sports Technique of the Week

This article originally ran at www.theclackamasprint.com. Too see the original, click here.

David Beasley, General Associate
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Volume 46, Issue 17
Arts & Culture

“Slump? I ain’t in no slump … I just ain’t hitting.” Hall of Fame New York Yankee Yogi Berra was widely known for humorous quotes like this, but don’t let the wily catcher fool you, he really could hit a baseball. Berra won the American League MVP award three times from 1951 to 1955, ending his career with 358 home runs and a .285 batting average.

In this week’s edition of our “Technique if the week,” we are talking baseball and more specifically, hitting the ball to the opposite field rather than pulling the ball down the line. “Oppo,” as 20-year veteran Clackamas head coach Robin Robinson calls it, is a must for all quality hitters.

“Baseball requires skill smarts and training,” said Robinson. “The team gets eight months of training throughout the year for 50 games.”

TCP; Cougars step up to plate

This article originally ran at www.theclackamasprint.com. Too see the original, click here.

David Beasley, Associate Sports Editor
Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012
Volume 46, Issue 8
Sports

Passing by the baseball field this term may have been a confusing scene at times. Usually baseball would be seen in the spring, but fall has been busy for the men of Clackamas Community College’s baseball team as they have been hard at work keeping in shape and preparing for the spring season.

The Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges’ rules allow baseball to include a fall and winter schedule, before they start the spring season.

The fall schedule is seven weeks long with four game days planned against other schools. The rules allow baseball 12 weeks from Sept. 15 to Nov. 15 and Jan. 15 to March 1.

November and December are for conditioning only. March 1 is the first day allowed to play spring games. During the spring they are allowed 22 game days against opponents.

Returning this fall to CCC baseball are four key players:

  • Scott Myers, all-league third baseman from Kearns HS, Utah.

  • Richie McCarter, pitcher from Kearns HS, Utah.

  • Thomas Kelly, catcher from Warrenton HS.

  • Josh Combs, outfielder from Hudson’s Bay HS, Vancouver, Wash.

This fall Clackamas has a good group of freshmen recruits on campus including:

  • Joe Strand, catcher from Seattle, Wash.

  • Skyler Barkdull, infielder from Utah.

  • Trevor Achenbach, infielder from Nevada.

  • Kyle Austin, infielder from Wilsonville HS.

Clackamas has one of the fastest outfield groups in the northwest:

  • Josh McLeod, outfielder from Seattle,Wash.

  • Zach Caligdong, outfielder from Seattle, Wash.

  • Justin Sievers, outfielder from Canby HS.

Several pitchers have shined this fall, including:

  • Andrew Marquez from Milwaukie HS.

  • Kylar Heaston from Tigard HS.

  • Kennon Von Hollebeke from Connell HS, Wash.

  • Zach Carter from Post Falls, Idaho.

All information and stats provided by CCC baseball head coach Robin Robinson.