Winter may be here, but baseball season is drawing near.
The Linn-Benton baseball team is shaping up for the start of the 2025 season with only days to go until their season opener at home against Columbia Basin.
Fresh off of winning the 2024 NWAC Baseball Championship, the Roadrunners are looking to become the first team since Lower Columbia in 2019 to win back-to-back titles.
In 2024, things couldn’t have gone much better for the team. After finishing the regular season with an overall record of 34-10, the Roadrunners went 5-1 in the NWAC championship tournament to capture Linn-Benton’s fourth NWAC title.
Following their success, stars Gabe Brabec, Aidan Dougherty, and Ethan Kleinschmit earned a spot on the ABCA All-American team, while 13 members of the Roadrunners’ roster earned NWAC All-Region honors. On top of the recognition for his players, Linn-Benton head coach Andy Peterson earned the honor of NWAC Baseball Coach of the Year.
To replicate last year’s triumph, Linn-Benton must overcome the usual yearly roster overhaul that comes standard to most junior college sports programs.
During the offseason, the Roadrunners lost 17 of the 30 players on their roster who were crucial to the team’s championship success. Even the coaching department saw changes with assistant coach Cole Stringer accepting a position as pitching coach on the Corvallis Knights.
In response to the departures, Linn-Benton recruited a freshmen class of 12 players and brought in sophomores Nick Biagi, Jackson Jaha, Jack Joyce, and Connor Mendez to the team. The Roadrunners also welcomed back pitcher Noah Dewey, who played for the team in 2023 but missed last season due to injury. Linn-Benton also hired assistant coaches James Marshall and Brock Townsend to fill the spot Stringer left.
Despite boasting a youthful squad, the Roadrunners will be relying on some of their first-year players to step up, much like the team’s freshman class last year.
In 2024, seven of Linn-Benton’s freshman players recorded 20 or more at-bats for the Roadrunners. Of the 13 team members who earned recognition to the NWAC All-Region team, four were freshmen. With their experience from last season, the returning players will have plenty of advice for this year’s incoming Roadrunners.
“Being through it already, I love to offer advice about the things I’ve experienced just as the sophomores last year did for me,” said sophomore outfielder Sam Giansante.
At the beginning of the school year, Giansante, along with his fellow sophomores, made it a priority to connect with their new teammates. During last season, Giansante noticed the camaraderie the team built and how it had contributed to their success.
With the hopes of replicating last year’s team chemistry, Giansante and his sophomore teammates spent as much time with the freshmen players as possible. Combined with several preseason exhibitions that gave the team their first taste of playing together, the Roadrunners are now on the same page and fired up for the season to start.
“Playing for the Linn-Benton logo on the front of our jersey was kind of our recipe for success last year,” said Giansante. “We aren’t planning on changing it this time around.”
The Linn-Benton baseball team opens up their season with a doubleheader at home against Columbia Basin on Saturday, Feb. 15. The first game starts at 11 a.m., with the second set to start 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first.
This article originally appeared in the February 2025 edition of The Commuter.
