In their fifth season under Head Coach Andy Peterson, the Linn-Benton Roadrunners baseball team has defended its honor quite well as the NWAC South’s premier program.
Currently sitting at a record of 28-4 and championing the South region standings with just a couple weeks left in the regular season, it has been an all-out team effort to get to this point.
From the beginning, things have run through the Beaks’ lockdown pitching staff.
Pitching to a collective 2.77 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP, Linn-Benton has been able to consistently rely on an all-freshman rotation of Emmett Stacher, Talon McGrorty, Lane Simonsen and Cooper Yudishthu to toe the rubber and start games strong.
The bullpen has been equally, if not more, effective, headed by even more freshmen: Dayne Castillo, typically being Peterson’s first option in relief, followed by Kyle Miller, Evan Lehnert and Jake Johnson.
At the dish, the Beaks have been consistent in their ability to plate runs by just about any means necessary.
To start the year, the team oftentimes leaned full on into the small-ball mentality, but lately, it’s been all power. LBCC has hit eight home runs so far this season, all coming after March 20.
Thus far, five different Roadrunners are getting on base at a clip of .380 or higher (minimum of 45 at-bats): sophomore outfielder Nick Biagi (.446), sophomore catcher Aiden Hazen (.420), freshman catcher Tyson McGrorty (.414), freshman outfielder Noah Scharer (.402) and freshman third baseman Jack Lussier (.397).
As a whole the team currently holds a .382 OBP.
Scharer leads the team in runs batted in thus far with 17, first baseman Boston Caron is right behind him with 15, while sophomore infielders Bryant Starr and Chanz Flores each have 14.
Although they possess a highly effective pitching staff and an offense that can plate runs in a myriad of ways, the thing that has set LBCC apart this season is a clear, unwavering sense of togetherness.
“They all play for each other. They all root for each other,” Peterson said. “The whole team is a part of it.”
Looking back on perhaps the biggest highlight of the team’s season so far, a March 5 game against Clackamas where McGrorty threw a no-hitter (to his twin brother, catching behind the plate), you can see exactly what Peterson is referring to.
Asked how he powered through the seven innings of no-hit ball, McGrorty said, “Just not thinking about it too much. Sitting back and getting hyped for the boys (on offense), trying to forget about it. At the end of the day, it worked out.”
Quite simply, LBCC is a team with all the tools to make a run at a third straight NWAC title, the most important of which being the ability to consistently feed off each other’s successes.
The team’s next games are at home on Wednesday, April 15, against Southwestern Oregon.
