Roadrunners Capture 1st Baseball Title Since 1991 with 4-1 Victory over Mt. Hood

LONGVIEW, Wash. – The Linn-Benton Roadrunners ended an over 30-year drought at the NWAC Baseball Championship, defeating Mt. Hood 4-1 to win their first title since 1991 on Tuesday at David Story Field.

Linn-Benton once again used its dominant pitching staff and timely hitting to defeat the Saints in a close ball game. The score remained tied 1-1 through seven innings before the Roadrunners broke out for three runs in the top of the eighth. LBCC started the inning with a hit by pitch and single that put runners on first and third with one out. Emiliano Alarcon then laid down a squeeze bunt, scoring the run and reaching safely on a Mt. Hood error. After an intentional walk, Cayden Delozier beat out a potential inning ending double play, scoring two more runs after the throw to first sailed into the dugout.

The Roadrunners did not need a lot of offense on the day as the tandem of Rhett Larson and Kian Hogan stymied the Saints over nine innings. Larson started the game and allowed one run in five innings, striking out four. Hogan earned the win in relief, pitching four shutout innings with four punchouts of his own.

Hogan was named the tournament Most Valuable Player, not allowing a run over 11 innings in the tournament, recording a 2-0 record with 11 strikeouts.

The Saints got their own outstanding pitching performance from their ace Jeff Nelson. The South Region Pitcher of the Year went 7.2 innings, allowing three earned runs with two strikeouts.

Mt. Hood finished with an 8-5 advantage in hits in the game, but could not string enough hits together. Brady Majewski led the team with a 3-for-4 game and the team's lone run scored. Rikuu Nishida was 2-for-4 and Mason Deverna went 1-for-3 with an RBI.

For the Roadrunners, Michael Soper went 3-for-4 with a run scored. Ruben Cedillo was 1-for-4 with a double and run scored.

Head Coach Andy Peterson and the Roadrunners will go into the offseason with the NWAC title in their trophy case.

MVP
Kian Hogan, Linn-Benton, Pitcher

All Tournament Team
DH – Jake Morrow, Linn-Benton
Utility – Cole Calnon, Lane
Catcher – Ben Steck, Everett
Infield – Rikuu Nishida, Mt. Hood
Infield – Ethan Stacy, Lower Columbia
Infield – Cayden Delozier, Linn-Benton
Infield – Jonathon Kumai, Everett
Infield – Emiliano Alarcon, Linn-Benton
Outfield – Ruben Cedillo, Linn-Benton
Outfield – Mason Deverna, Mt. Hood
Outfield – Braeden Terry, Everett
Outfield – Matthew Lewis, Lower Columbia
Pitcher – Julian Chabot, Everett
Pitcher – Connor Nipp, Mt. Hood
Pitcher – Tatsuya Uemoto, Edmonds
Pitcher – Rhett Larson, Linn-Benton
Relief Pitcher – Dorian Broadus, Mt. Hood

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Contact: Iain Dexter; idexter@clark.edu