ALBANY – Linn-Benton’s baseball team showed why they are tops in their region, sweeping the Clackamas Cougars in the teams’ April 8 doubleheader. The Roadrunners won 4-1 in game one before a dominant 5-0 shutout victory in game two.
Game one started slow for both teams, but action got started with a Leland Boswell RBI single in the top of the third to get the scoring started. It would be the only run CCC would plate all day.
It wouldn’t take long for the Beaks to answer, as Emmett Stacher knocked home Noah Scharer on a single in the home half of the inning to knot the score.
After working through the fourth and fifth with no real trouble, starting pitcher Lane Simonsen ended his day with five innings of work, allowing six hits, giving up the lone Cougar run (unearned) and striking out five.
“It was gritty today. The defense made some great plays behind me, I ran into some trouble here and there and got high in my pitch count, but my teammates picked me up and we got the win,” Simonsen said.
Simonsen has been a key member of an effective rotation, but in his last start (April 2 against Umpqua) things didn’t go the freshman’s way. So a quality performance against CCC was a great bounce back.
“The plan today was just have some fun, fill up the zone, keep it simple,” Simonsen explained.
The LB offense would strike next at a convenient time for their starter, capturing the lead in the bottom of the fifth after Mark Carpenter scored Scharer on a sacrifice fly. Taking the 2-1 lead at that time qualified Simonsen for the win, his second of the year in eight starts.
In the top of the sixth, Dayne Castillo took over in relief. Castillo continued his stretch of dominant appearances out of the bullpen, pitching four innings of scoreless ball, surrendering just two hits.
Castillo earned a save and his ERA now sits at an impressive 0.55. The freshman’s heater has looked sharper in each appearance, and it has played a major role in him not allowing a run since late February.
LB picked up another run in the bottom of the sixth, this time on a Bryant Starr single that brought home DH Camden Johnson. That made it 3-1 LB.
“Today I was just trying to slow everything down. Just see the ball deep,” Starr said. Going a combined 3-for-7 with a pair of walks across the day’s games – the sophomore shortstop had arguably his most impactful offensive day of the season thus far.
The Roadrunner’s final run of the game came during a wacky eighth inning where Clackamas reliever Billy Lucas struggled mightily to find the strike zone. After walking the bases loaded, Scharer brought home Nick Biagi on a sacrifice fly.
Scharer has played a massive role in the team’s offense all year, but particularly as of late. The freshman centerfielder has had a knack for bringing home runners in big situations.
“Every day, it’s the same attitude. He’s a hitter. I think he had a little lull for maybe a weekend or so, and then he’s just right back to normal. I think that was kind of the first time he’s ever failed before, so it was kind of him trying to get used to that failure and now he’s locked in,” Head Coach Andy Peterson said.
After a decisive victory in game one, no on-field energy was lost 30 minutes later in game two.
Beak’s starter Cooper Yudishthu surrendered a hit on the first pitch of the game, but from there it was all gas and no brakes for the freshman – 6 ⅔ innings, 10 strikeouts, zero earned runs.
Yudishthu prides himself as a man of preparation, and he looked prepared against CCC.
“I don’t really need (a day like today) for confidence. It’s not about the results. For me, it’s all about the preparation. I go into every start knowing I’ve done everything I can to be ready,” Yudishthu said.
Every pitch in the righty’s arsenal was working for him. The command was there all day and a healthy mix of two-seam fastballs, four-seam fastballs, and – perhaps to the biggest detriment of the Cougars – Yudishthu’s slider and curveball were sitting down CCC hitters left and right.
The curve was generating whiffs or outright freezing guys, while the duo of fastballs were consistently placed exactly where Yudishthu wanted them.
“In high school I used to only be a four-seam guy. Then I started experimenting with the two-seam, and having it play off my four-seam has been absolutely huge. They play off each other really well. The four-seam was spotting up for me today, right on the outside corner of the plate to the righties and the inside to the lefties,” Yudisthu said.
After getting some action on the basepaths in the bottom of the second, the Beaks cashed in a pair of runs on a Scharer single that brought home second baseman Seth Willy and catcher Tyson McGrorty.
Willy would give Yudishthu just a little more run support in the home fifth, knocking a two-RBI single of his own to plate first baseman Chanz Flores and Starr. That made it 4-0 Roadrunners.
Peterson let his starter go out for the seventh, but after a two-out single, Jake Johnson was called upon to relieve.
Johnson had himself another fine relief appearance, going 2 ⅓ scoreless, surrendering a pair of hits and striking out four.
In 18 ⅓ innings of relief so far this year, Johnson still holds onto a 0.00 ERA to go along with an absolutely deadly WHIP of 0.71.
The bottom of the seventh would see the last scoring action of the game, after Kellen Segel hit a single sharply up the middle of the infield to bring home Starr.
LBCC finished 8-for-30 at the plate in game two and 5–for-28 in game one, a pair of hit totals that are admittedly down from what has been the standard for the Roadrunners as of late, but it was more than enough to get the job done, especially during a day with such outstanding work from the men toeing the rubber.
“(The rotation) are all like competing with each other, you know? Big shout out to (Aiden) Hazen and McGrorty, our catchers, they’re killing it, calling their own pitches all season. Especially Tyson, being a freshman having to learn all the pitchers, he’s been unbelievable. Everyone is doing a great job, but man Cooper was good today,” Peterson said.
LBCC now holds a 26-4 record (18-4 in NWAC South play) and will look to continue their successes entering the final month of the regular season.
The Beaks have also entered Perfect Game Baseball’s JUCO Top 25 – sliding into the 25 position on the poll, a rare accomplishment for a team from the NWAC.
Polls don’t really matter to this team and the goal in the clubhouse remains clear, to keep marching closer to another NWAC title. The march continues against Clackamas, this time away, on Saturday, April 11 – first pitches are set for 1 and 4 p.m.
