Roadrunner Baseball Maintains Lead Over South Division After Series Draw With Mt. Hood
After a tight series over the weekend, the Roadrunners split games with the Mt. Hood Saints 2-2. The series saw a lineup of well-played contests with LBCC’s offense leading them to an 11-8 win in the first matchup. The Saints took the reigns immediately following the Roadrunner win and beat LBCC 6-0, handing them their first shutout loss of the season. Mt. Hood kept the momentum up and won a low-scoring game 5-2. LBCC didn’t let the Saints get the best of them, however, bouncing back and winning the final game on the road 6-2. Mt. Hood sits right under LBCC’s top-ranked position in the southern division after the series but the Roadrunners hold a five-game advantage over them.
Before the series with Mt. Hood, LBCC competed in two of the four make-up games against the Clark College Penguins, after the games were postponed due to rain. The Penguins started the series off with intensity, just barely missing the upset and losing the first contest 11-10. There were four Roadrunners in that contest who scored two runs and Coach Andy Peterson’s depth was shown off yet again. The Roadrunners kept the momentum up at home and were able to secure the first two wins of the series.
LBCC returned against Clark on Monday, April 22 and stole the final two games on the road, winning 9-3 and then 2-1. The Roadrunners now sit at an impressive 24-7 (14-2 in the south division) which is the second best record in the NWAC.
Utility player Dequan Dennis-Lee contributed on offense during the Clark series with seven total runs, and loves the energy the Roadrunners are demonstrating.
“We feel really good about the success because we’re able to see our work translate to wins. We rely on each other to accomplish our goals and do our jobs,” said Dennis-Lee.
The Roadrunners are one of the best teams not only in the south, but in the entire NWAC. This is due to Coach Peterson’s ability to assist team chemistry by creating a fun environment to play in. Success is important, but having fun is the value of the game, and Peterson’s players do both.
“Petey [Peterson] does an amazing job of understanding his players and the game of baseball entirely. One way we’ve been able to build such great chemistry is all of the weather delays. With our games being rescheduled in a week with four double headers, we just get an opportunity to be around each other,” said Dennis-Lee.
The competition in the south ramps up for the Roadrunners, as they face the Chemeketa Storm, who are an impressive 21-12-1 on the year, but sit just above .500 in the conference, at 8-7 (fourth in the south). The momentum has rolled like a snowball for the Beaks, and the eyes on the crown of the south are slowly becoming fixated, but it’s still one game at a time for Peterson and his team.
“We’re taking it one game, inning, at-bat, and pitch one at a time. We obviously want to win the south division, but we won’t get ahead of ourselves. We gotta keep things simple and not do too much,” said Dennis-Lee.
The first pitch of the series against the Storm will be thrown at 2 p.m. on Friday the 26th. Chemeketa took the victory at home 6-1 in the team’s last meeting.
Story and Photos by Cam Hanson
