Mt. Hood hosts Linn-Benton on Thursday with first place on the line
Mt. Hood CC first baseman Jake Thran just wanted to make contact when he dug in with the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth inning against Lane Community College. He made contact – and sent the ball halfway to Washington.
Thrans base-clearing grand slam blew open an already lopsided game and led the Saints to 13-0 victory on Thursday. The game was scheduled to go nine innings, but the mercy rule turned it into a seven-inning affair.
Our approach in that situation is it wont take much to score a run. We are just trying to put a quality swing on a pitch, Mt. Hood coach Bryan Donohue said. When thats your approach that is when something big can happen.
The four-run blow delivered by Thran, which landed 25 or 30 feet beyond the outfield fence, was part of an eight-run inning for the Saints. Mt. Hood had worked five singles, a walk and a sacrifice bunt before Thran came up. After Thrans bomb, a single by Shea Coates and a few Lane errors led to another Saints run to make it an 11-0 game.
The Saints overcame a 3-0 deficit in the second game to collect an 11-3 win and earn the sweep.
Saturday's doubleheader with Linn-Benton was rained out and rescheduled for 1 p.m. Thursday at Oslund Field.
Look for extended game coverage in the Tuesday, April 16, print edition.