Beak baseball lit up the board – nine players and Head Coach Andy Peterson earned honors of some sort. Despite the importance of the Roadrunners playoff run, a collection of individual successes help quantify just how prosperous 2026 was for LBCC.

Peterson was named the 2026 NWAC Coach of the Year. The skipper has completed a three-peat of the award, now having won it a total of four times in his tenure with the Beaks. It’s undeniable that with his continued successes and a past of playing at Oregon State, it’s possible that a grander opportunity of some kind could be lining up for Peterson in the next couple offseasons, if not this one. 

The Roadrunners had three first-team selections – Kellen Segel was selected to the first team infield (and second team utility), Cooper Yudishthu was a first-team pitcher and Bryant Starr was selected for infielders as well.

Segel’s season started with a lot of unknowns, coming off Tommy John surgery, which took him out of 2025. The third-year sophomore came in with a true plug-and-play role. He’s platooned a bit with fellow sophomore Seth Willy at second base, he’s played in the outfield, spent time at first, spent time at short – Segel even pitched a bit for the Roadrunners, albeit with limited success.

All things considered, Segel became a weapon for LB as the season marched on. He slashed .313/.376/.810 (good for the third best OPS on the team), while providing a sure glove no matter where they put him and serving as a weapon on the base paths – Segel led the team in stolen bases with 20. 

Segel posted a 127 WRC+ in 109 plate appearances in his final season with LB. 

Yudishthu had a season filled with ups, before a big down robbed him of his ability to lead the team’s rotation in the playoffs – the freshman tore his UCL in late April. Starting the season as the anchorman of the rotation, Yudishthu lit it up. 

Putting up several metrics in the 80th-percentile or higher, the team’s top statistical starter was among the NWAC’s elite in various categories – strikeout percentage (25.3%), WAR (0.6) and ERA (2.58). At season’s end, Yudishthu compiled a 5-0 record.

Starr came in with expectations to be a key sophomore leader and an every game player, and the sophomore shortstop lived up to those expectations. The sophomore provided a sure glove at short and was able to constantly contribute at the plate, his biggest asset being the uncanny ability to almost never strikeout, his 8.2% strikeout percentage sitting in the top fifth-percentile for NWAC players.

Starr slashed .262/.347/.701 and swiped 16 bags. With runners in scoring position, Starr consistently rose to the occasion, putting up an impressive .341 batting average in those situations. The Lebanon product will be one of a few names to pay attention to when it comes time for sophomores to try and find a four-year home.

Team batting champ Mark Carpenter took home the 2026 NWAC Freshman of the Year award to go along with a gold glove for his defensive contributions at third base. Carpenter played in a shared role with Jack Lussier and ended up putting up a monster slash line of .350/.409/.884.

Carpenter was also scorching hot at the exact right time, riding an 11-game hit streak as the Roadrunners entered the playoffs.

Carpenter and fellow freshman Noah Scharer were the lone Beak position players to take home gold gloves. Scharer didn’t receive any other honors, in spite of a monster season where he was often LB’s most consistent hitter – leading the team in plate appearances, RBI, hits and runs. Still, Carpenter and Scharer will be the two most crucial returning players for 2027.

Reliever turned fourth-starter (in place of Yudishthu) Evan Lehnert was honored with the league’s pitching gold glove.

Four Roadrunners were named to the NWAC second team – reliever Dayne Castillo, outfielders Nick Biagi and Jackson Fera and catcher Aiden Hazen (who made second team as a DH).

Dayne Castillo was shut down all year for LB out of the pen. Peterson’s first option, Castillo was someone you could feel confident in toeing the rubber if your team has a lead of any kind. 

However, there also were many times where Castillo came in with his team down and laid down a string of dominant innings while his offense subsequently worked. As such, the reliever tied for the team-lead in wins with a 6-1 record, to go along with five saves. Peterson never designated a closer, opting for a bulk-workload approach out of his pen, utilizing Castillo, Jake Johnson, Lehnert and Kyle Miller heavily – only ever calling upon others in specific scenarios. 

Castillo finished with a 1.79 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP. Castillo’s 256 ERA+ led all Roadrunner pitchers. Of any statistic to quantify how important he was to LB, Castillo left 84.9% of runners (either that he allowed or inherited) on base.

Biagi was a critical power bat for the Roadrunners all year, slashing .330/.387/.851 (second in OPS and average). The only knock on Biagi’s season was his somewhat limited usage given it’s his last ride with the team, appearing in only 28 games. The sophomore always showed up when called upon, but was forced to share his time playing in an outfield with an abundance of talent and depth.

The slugging lefty Jackson Fera split his time almost exactly 50/50 between playing out in left and being LB’s designated hitter. He ended his season slashing .235/.368/.721. Fera had a knack for sharpening as the game went on, hitting .357 in the seventh inning or later, and .500 when those situations were tied or one-run ballgames. 

Aiden Hazen split time behind the plate with freshman Tyson McGrorty. More often than not, Hazen showed a better bat while McGrorty was the superior defensive backstop. The pair each caught exactly 22 of the 44 games.

Hazen put up a .329/.402/.780 slashline, making him and Carpenter the only two Roadrunners to post an OBP over .400.

The post Roadrunners Earn Multiple Awards in NWAC Baseball appeared first on The Commuter.

But in the eighth inning, Lower Columbia broke through with a run to take a 2-1 lead, then put an exclamation mark on their win with a three-run home run in the top of the ninth inning, ending the Roadrunners’ quest to repeat as NWAC champions. With the 5-1 win, Lower Columbia will take on Lane Community College for the NWAC championship. (UPDATE: Lower Columbia went on to win the champtionship, with a 12-2 win over Lane.)

While Lower Columbia was able to quiet the bats that had propelled LBCC throughout the tournament, they couldn’t solve the pitching of LB starter Evan Lehnert, who held Lower Columbia to one run on five hits, striking out six batters. Jake Johnson followed with three innings, only allowing a run on two hits. Dayne Castillo finished out the contest for LB, giving up the home run to James Cote that helped seal the win for Lower Columbia. 

On offense, the Roadrunners could only collect three hits and a walk against Lower Columbia pitchers, who struck out seven batters and allowed no earned runs. 

Linn-Benton finished the season with a 38-10 record.

Here’s the boxscore for the game: https://nwacsports.com/sports/bsb/2025-26/boxscores/20260525_kn8x.xml

For more information and results on the tournament, see https://nwacsports.com/Championship_Central_Baseball.

The post LBCC Comes Up Just Short of NWAC Baseball Championship Final appeared first on The Commuter.

The Roadrunners will take on host school Lower Columbia College at noon Monday on David Story Field.

The Roadrunners scored four runs in each of the fourth and sixth innings to put the game out of reach. Meanwhile, starting pitcher Lane Simonsen didn’t allow a run to the Titans until the seventh inning. Relievers Kyle Miller and Preston Daniels helped close out the win with three scoreless innings. 

The offense was led by Nick Biagi and Kellen Segel, who launched a pair of two-run home runs in the fourth inning to extend LB’s lead to 5-0. In the sixth inning, Mark Carpenter and Jackson Fera added a pair of two-run doubles to run the score up to 9-0.  

The tournament wraps up Monday with the championship game at David Story Field on the campus of Lower Columbia College.
For more information and results on the tournament, see https://nwacsports.com/Championship_Central_Baseball.

The post Hitting Outburst Leads Roadrunners to NWAC Baseball Finals appeared first on The Commuter.

The Roadrunners will take the field at 4:05 p.m. Sunday, when they take on the winner of Saturday’s contest between Everett and Lane Community College. 

On Saturday, Linn-Benton’s offense pounded out 12 hits, including home runs by Bryant Starr, Chanz Flores, and Jackson Fera. Talon McGrorty, now 7-0 on the season, got the win for the Roadrunners, pitching seven innings and allowing five runs. He struck out one and walked one. Jake Johson closed out the game with two shutout innings. 

The Roadrunners jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. However, the Tritons rebounded with four runs in the second to take a 4-0 lead. 

LB’s offense erupted for eight runs in the bottom of the fourth, including all three home runs, to take a 9-4 lead. Each team added a run later to tally the final score, 10-5. 

The tournament continues Sunday at David Story Field on the campus of Lower Columbia College. It wraps up Monday, May 25, with the championship game. 
For more information and results on the tournament, see https://nwacsports.com/Championship_Central_Baseball.

The post Eight-run Inning Propels LB to Win in NWAC Baseball Playoffs appeared first on The Commuter.

The Roadrunners scored runs in the first and second innings, jumping out to a 3-0 lead that they maintained throughout. Catcher Tyson McGrorty helped extend the lead to 5-0 with a ninth-inning home run. 

On the pitching side, starter Evan Lehnert held Pierce scoreless for seven innings, allowing only three hits while striking out seven and walking a lone batter. He was relieved by Dominic Daffron, who closed out the contest, striking out three, including the final batter of the game.  

The Roadrunners (36-10) will next play at 2 p.m. Saturday against the winner of Friday’s finale between Lane Community College and the Edmonds Tritons. 

The double-elimination tournament continues Saturday at David Story Field on the campus of Lower Columbia College. It wraps up Monday, May 25, with the championship game. 
For more information and results on the tournament, see https://nwacsports.com/Championship_Central_Baseball.

The post Roadrunners Stay Alive with Win Over Pierce at NWAC Baseball Playoffs appeared first on The Commuter.

Sadly, in what was supposed to be his second-to-last start of the season, Yudishthu suffered a UCL tear while working in the fifth inning of LB’s April 29 victory over Lane. Regardless, Yudishthu has kept pushing – going through the motions of starting the long road of recovery whilst cheering on his teammates as they prepare to play the most important baseball of their lives.

It remains to be seen if Yudishthu will need to get Tommy John surgery, but regardless, the recovery from a UCL tear is a personal battle all too common for pitchers, marked with months of frustration and struggle. Pitcher Michael Kopech once said of UCL injury recovery in an interview with MLB.com, “Honestly, it makes you feel worse and worse as the days go on.”

Yudishthu, a Grant High School graduate, still finished his freshman season with a 5-0 record in nine starts, pitching to a 2.58 ERA and a WHIP of 1.10. 

I sat down with Yudishthu to discuss his season, his injury and to get to know him a bit better as an individual. 

How long have you been playing baseball and at what age did you start to take pitching seriously?

As long as I can remember. My dad always coached me, and my older brother who’s five years older than me always played. My dad coached me all the way from T-Ball until eighth grade. I’d say that I really started taking pitching seriously around middle school, that was when I realized like “OK, that’s my spot.” That’s where I have the most fun. It was always kind of a balance, hitting, playing in the field and pitching and then in my junior year I fractured two vertebrae in my back snowboarding and that made me realize I kind of needed to pick my battles. So, from that point on I became a full-time pitcher.

How did you get recruited and end up at LB?

It’s actually a pretty wild story. I didn’t try to get recruited at all, I was dead set on not playing baseball after high school. I applied to maybe 12 different schools, like 90% of those were little art schools just in different cities throughout the country. I was set on doing art and design stuff. But then I met with some of the most important baseball people in my life, coaches and family friends who had been around the game for a long time. All of them gave me some really interesting perspective and thought that I could go on to play somewhere at the next level.

I mean, I had my deposit down to go to California College of the Arts in San Francisco, and then around the end of July when I really thought through it I was like “I’m going to regret it if I don’t try,” so I went for it. I had like a month beforehand, ended up at LB, raced to get a place and a roommate and here I am.

What are your interests off the diamond?

I have a lot. Baseball is a pretty big mental game, you’ve got to have your escapes. I’d say I’ve definetly been slacking on my creative things. I haven’t been making as much art lately. In the fall I was real big on just going out, watching the sunset and drawing in my sketchbook. I DJ every now and then, mostly just by myself. Right now I’ve been going on some fat bike rides especially when I go back home to Portland Last time I went on like an 18-mile ride and that was pretty sick.

How’d you get into DJing? That’s an interesting hobby.

I have to give credit for a lot of my love of music to my brother. There were three albums specifically I remember him putting me onto, “DAMN” by Kendrick Lamar, this is about to make me sound really young, but “DAMN,” “Big Fish Theory” by Vince Staples, and “Flower Boy” by Tyler, The Creator. He put me onto those and then he kept putting me on, and eventually I kept searching and finding stuff on my own and that’s when I really got in the realm of music stuff. 

Then I started band in fifth grade. I played trumpet and trombone in a jazz band from sixth to eighth grade. I played a little my freshman year but mostly because my mom made me. It was kind of intense and just burnt me out. I was glad I tried it out but it eventually kind of phased out. My favorite part about playing jazz was the aspect of performing, like that feeling you get when you get a reaction out of people you’re performing for, that just hits different. I really missed that, and DJing sounded sick. I listen to such much music and I collect records and CDs and so I just wanted to put that knowledge somewhere. 

Summer before my junior year I bought a DJ deck, taught myself with some YouTube videos and kind of just figured it out. That fall I DJed a few house parties and since then I’ve done some more real gigs. I did a fashion show at the Portland Fashion Institute, that was sick. I have one coming up this summer at the Portland Art Museum, another fashion show, but I don’t know for sure what’s going to happen with that because obviously I might have to get elbow surgery. But yeah, I missed that feeling of performing and DJing really scratched that itch.

Back to baseball, you added a two-seam fastball to your arsenal before this season How important was having a healthy mix of pitches to keep batters off balance this year?

Huge. Right before the injury, my last outing I was cruising, I had only allowed two hits. I figured out my changeup in the bye week just before that so I had five working pitches (four-seam, two-seam, curveball, slider, changeup). And, honestly I had never felt that good on the mound before. It’s a game changer, it just becomes a total guessing game for hitters. If you have five good pitches that you can land for strikes, they’re screwed, nothing they can do. Having that healthy mix was huge. 

You hear some guys talk about some days certain pitches are better than others and while that’s definitely true, throughout this season I felt like I had mostly all my pitches except that changeup, which I was beginning to figure out until unfortunate circumstances.

Just how devastating of a turn was that? Going from the best you’d ever felt to season over in an instant.

It was heartbreaking. I was just in shock. Playing LCC was a huge series, and our game one starter Lane Simonsen had pitched like the most insane game ever, he went like eight innings and I just wanted to back that up and shove. I felt great that day, I was doing my thing out there and then one curveball I felt a pop in my elbow. I threw a couple more pitches and I was just like “Yeah, something happened.” 

So, I came out, I was still in shock but just tried my best to back my guys up the rest of the game. It was definitely brutal, I had a whole summer lined up with a summer ball team and it just felt like right when things were starting to go my way that happened. But, I’ve been taking it day by day, the team’s been there for me. I’m just hyped to go get after it at NWACs, be the loudest guy in the dugout and watch us win a chip.

How would you describe the general vibes among the team heading into the playoffs?

I mean, this is what our eyes were set on from day one. We all know what this program is trying to do and what the standard is. Like, winning the South, that to us was not even close to the end goal, it was expected. It’s a long road ahead to win the championship but this group is prepared and we’re ready to be continuously preparing until it happens.

Tell me a little bit about the relationship this team has. How important is this team’s close-knit bond to your guys’ successes?

Chemistry is an important aspect of any team. We’re hanging out outside of practice, getting together on our own and just having fun. You just have to spend time as a team and bond outside of baseball, because it’s going to transfer onto the field. Showing up on day one obviously was a bit of an adjustment period for everyone. The biggest difference between now and the fall is just the comfortability, knowing you have friends and that everyone’s backing each other up.

We’ve talked a few times about how high of a standard you hold your preparation to, tell me a little about how you get ready for a game physically and mentally?

Something I’ve been really big on since high school is visualization. The night before the game I’m laying in my bed right before I sleep, turn the light off, close my eyes and just imagine every single one of my pitches and every spot of me throwing them in game. I know this sounds weird, but I try my best to picture myself in the shoes I’m going to be in the next day: walking on the mound to start the game, throwing different pitches in different spots at different points in the game, striking a guy out, walking around the mound after I strike the guy out, everything. Visualizing has definitely been a huge aid. 

When I wake up the morning of a game I eat a good breakfast and do yoga for 20 to 30 minutes. Pregame meal: Jersey Mike’s sandwich, every single time, the boys on the team know I always have that Jersey Mike’s on me. Bang out the sandwich with some honey barbeque Fritos during the first game, because I always started game twos. Then I stretch, start throwing, bang out a Red Bull and a banana and we do our thing.

I know you aren’t the type to dwell on results, but how did this season compare to your expectations coming in?

Well, I don’t get to pitch at NWACs, and that was kind of the whole goal I’ve been working towards. Of course I’ve taken it one game at a time, every game mattered and I really felt like I got to contribute to the team. But yeah, not getting to pitch in the playoffs is a huge bummer, but it’s not something I’m going to dwell on. The thing that sucks most about the injury but also makes it easy to move on from is that I was doing everything I could to stay healthy. Every single day I was in the weight room doing arm care after practice. I was going the extra mile, doing yoga and stretching every morning.

It was just kind of a freak accident, there’s not much I could have done to prevent it. It’s definitely something that obviously was not reaching my expectations. But, I really try not to live on expectations and stuff, I just do everything I can and control the controllable.

What was the biggest thing this season taught you?

Honestly just what having a mass of people working towards one goal can accomplish. Compared to high school, it’s a different environment for sure. Obviously, you care about winning in high school, it depends where you’re at but usually it’s only like half the team that is working super hard and really wants it. It was crazy showing up here and going in the weight room every day and every single guy is getting after it, not one guy slacking. It’s just crazy seeing what’s possible if everyone commits to one thing. With so much strength and so much power, a lot of stuff can happen. It goes past sports, you see it everywhere in the world, if you have a big group of people all working towards one thing, it can be pretty powerful.

At a Glance:

Cooper Yudishthu

Occupation: Pitcher and student at LB

Major: Associate of Art Oregon Transfer with a focus in arts

Age: 19

Hometown: Portland, Oregon

Before LBCC: Played high school baseball for Grant High School in Portland

Other Interests: Music, art, DJing, Jersey Mike’s

Photo by Joe O’Leary

Photo by Joe O’Leary

The post Controlling the Controllable: A Q&A with LBCC Pitcher Cooper Yudishthu appeared first on The Commuter.

The Roadrunners lost 6-5 to Wenatchee Valley, the second-seeded team from the NWAC East region. Linn-Benton entered the tournament as the top seed from the NWAC South. The Roadrunners will attempt to rebound Friday at 9:35 a.m., when they take on Pierce College, which lost 11-5 to Everett in the tourney opener. 

In summary, LB took a 3-1 lead against Wenatchee in the bottom of the fourth inning on a solo home run by Bryant Starr and a two-run single by Nick Biagi. However, Wenatchee rallied for five runs the next inning, taking a 6-3 lead in the fifth inning. 

The Roadrunners chipped away at the lead, scoring single runs in the sixth and seventh innings but couldn’t get closer than the 6-5 final score. Beaks starter Emmett Stacher was tagged with the loss. 

The double-elimination tournament continues Friday at David Story Field on the campus of Lower Columbia College. It wraps up Monday, May 25, with the championship game. 

For more information and results on the tournament, see https://nwacsports.com/Championship_Central_Baseball.

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The 200-lap, 500-mile race is known for its close finishes, high speeds and historical significance in American motorsports. What everyone may not know, however, is just how grand the scale of the spectacle is for the fan. The Indy 500 is far from just a car race — in many ways, it’s akin to something of a yearly festival of American engineering achievement and countless traditions. 

“Every time May rolls around, my heartbeat changes,” IndyCar driver Pato O’Ward said in a letter to FOX Sports. “There’s an energy that buzzes through the garages, like everyone’s chasing something special.”

I’m fortunate enough to be attending the 110th running of the race on Sunday, May 24. Typically, I’m not much of an “itinerary” guy on trips. But luckily for me, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway website features a complete guide and schedule of the events of the weekend.

So, just for a moment let’s pretend we’re all going to the race, and envision a weekend at one of the most legendary sporting events our nation has to offer. 

If you want to attend the Indy 500 the first thing you need to do, if you’re not a local of course, is to get yourself plane tickets to Indianapolis and find lodging in the city. 

According to an article by Yahoo Sports that details the full cost of attending the event, plane ticket and hotel prices spike mightily due to the popularity of the race, an estimation of $189 was placed upon a typical weekend night in an Indianapolis hotel compared to $365 on race weekend. 

Indy 500 events technically started May 12, with practice week. Tuesday through Friday drivers practice the track, and qualifying takes place on Saturday and Sunday. Practice tickets this year cost $25 a day, while qualifying tickets are going for $35.

Navigating around Indianapolis Motor Speedway is nothing like going to a baseball or football game. The place is absolutely massive, and getting from one spot to another can often take more than 45 minutes. So, it should be noted that you need to plan your days at the track around a little travel time. 

The crowds really start showing up Friday, May 22, as race weekend commences with Carb Day.

A time-honored tradition, according to Hendrick Motorsport: “In the early days of IndyCar, teams had carburetors to help regulate the air-fuel mixture entering the engine. The last day of practice became known as Carb Day because that was the day team mechanics would fine tune the carburetors to produce the best possible result.” 

IndyCars haven’t used carburetors since the late ’60s, but the name has stuck around for the event — a last practice day featuring music and other entertainment. This year Counting Crows are the act headlining Carb Day. General admission Carb Day tickets are listed for $50 on the racetrack’s website. 

Saturday is known as Legends Day. It features a gathering of IndyCar legends as well as an open autograph/meet and greet session with the entire field of 2026 racers. To attend Legends Day, tickets are $20.

Sunday is the day of reckoning. All the preparation and anticipation for the race comes to fruition when 30 engines start at once, subsequently starting another chapter in the history of the event. General admission tickets for race day are $50 this year.

Alex Palou is considered the favorite to win the race, he won last year and currently sits atop the IndyCar standings, with three wins already only six races into the season. The 500 is known for its parity, however, and it’s really anyone’s race to win.

One of the more overlooked parts of the 500 to the average viewer  is the fact that it’s, in a sense, one of the grandest showings of fine engineering at its highest level. Today, IndyCars are produced by Chevrolet and Honda, and all of them feature 2.2-liter twin-turbo V6 hybrid engines. They produce between 500-700 horsepower and top out at over 230 miles per hour. IndyCars are the fastest cars in racing, and a huge oval track like IMS allows for a full showcase of top speeds. 

The cars are fine-tuned machines of speed. You can look back and view runnings of the race in the past — the evolution of the sport is clear, but the best part is that the cars and drivers 110 years ago were put to the test in the same arena, at the same time of year, facing the same pressures. 

After winning the race in 1992, Al Unser Jr. gave the now legendary quote, “You just don’t know what Indy means.”

If you’d like to tune into the 110th running of the Indy 500, the race is set to start at 9 a.m. PST and is broadcasted on FOX.

At a Glance:

Indy 500

Where: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indianapolis, Indiana 

What: A massive, yearly automobile race and event.

Official website: www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com/events/indy500

Best way to get there: Fly into Indianapolis International Airport

Admission: $50 General admission for race day

Practices: May 12-15, May 18, May 22 (Carb Day)

Qualifying: May 16-17

Race Day: Sunday, May 24

The post Race Week in Indy More Than Just ‘The Greatest Spectacle in Racing’ appeared first on The Commuter.

Throughout the ebbs and flows of a gritty season, the team had their share of struggles but sustained success thanks to a solid balance amongst the roster. The offense in particular remained free of one or two players holding the spotlight – every game you weren’t sure which guys were going to be the “heroes” that day. 

The team’s batting average jumped 30 points from last year, improving to .267, which was good for second best in the South.

The Beak’s pitching staff and the defense behind them also played a huge role in rattling off a 35-win-season.  An almost all-freshman staff pitched to a 3.54 ERA, admittedly the worst return in the five-year Andy Peterson era thus far, but still a solid figure. At the mind-way point in the season, you could have made a serious case that the Roadrunners had the best pitching staff in the NWAC, but some second-half struggles brought them back to earth.

Graphs by Joe O’Leary, all stats from nwbaseballstats.com 

FIP (fielding-independent pitching) tracks a pitcher’s effectiveness measuring things only in their control (hits, strikeouts, home runs, walks, hit batters). 

A player with a significantly lower FIP than ERA, such as Evan Lehnert, suggests that the pitcher has had his share of bad luck or other mitigating circumstances. FIP is a stat that works best when put alongside ERA, as a pitcher’s FIP points to what direction his ERA might be trending.

Almost all Roadrunner pitchers have a FIP higher than their ERA. While on one hand, that suggests luck, it also means that LB defense was pretty stern all year, and that the team was employing a pitch-to-contact strategy. 

Cooper Yudishthu led Roadrunner starters with a 2.58 ERA and a 5-0 record in nine starts. Unfortunately for him and LB, in his final start of the year he tore his UCL while tossing a curveball in the fifth inning of his April 29 start at Lane, ruling him out for the playoffs. 

The duo of Dayne Castillo and Jake Johnson anchored the team’s relief corps – Johnson ending the year without letting up a single-earned run while Castillo pitched 40 ⅓ innings in relief and brought home a statline to be proud of for his freshman campaign – a 6-1 record, a 1.79 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP.

Castillo also tied for fifth in the NWAC in saves with teammate Kyle Miller, both freshman collecting five saves.

ERA+ is a statistic that puts more perspective on a pitcher’s ERA. It compares a given pitcher to a league average pitcher by putting his performance on a scale – a 100 ERA+ marking the hypothetical average NWAC pitcher. ERA+ also takes into account the favorability of each ball park (things such as dimensions, home/away, etc.)

Castillo technically led the team with a monstrous ERA+ of 256. Johnson doesn’t qualify for an ERA+ because he didn’t allow any runs all year! The Beak rotation (which started as Lane Simonsen, Tyson McGrorty, Emmett Stacher and Cooper Yudishthu) ended up performing in opposite order according to ERA+, with Simonsen finishing at 97, McGrorty at 132, Stacher at 153 and Yudishthu at a balmy 177.

oWAR (offensive wins over replacement) analyzes how directly a player’s offensive output has contributed to winning. This is done by comparing the player to a hypothetical replacement. For example, according to the stat, Bryant Starr’s bat and baserunning ability directly contributed one win to LB’s total over the average NWAC backup shortstop’s bat.

Freshman Noah Scharer held a clean lead of the oWAR race within the clubhouse from season beginning to end. The centerfielder also led the team in hits with 41 and RBI with 27. Players such as Starr and Kellen Segel get mighty boosts in the oWAR totals from fine baserunning all year, the sophomores swiping 16 and 20 bags, respectively. 

Freshman Mark Carpenter and sophomore Nick Biagi had a somewhat tightly contested race for the best batting average on the team. Carpenter eventually came out on top, finishing the year hitting .350, albeit in only 91 plate appearances (for reference, Scharer led the team in plate appearances with 183). 

All things considered, the LB offense had a good mix of players – contact guys, power guys and guys with a bit of both. At season’s end, the top 10 Roadrunners in OPS all sat at .735 or better.

With the team’s sights set fully on the postseason, the stats are the stats and the past is the past. All that matters now is playoff preparation and execution.

Linn-Benton gets a bye from the NWAC playoff super regionals, and their first game is set for Thursday, May 21. Tacoma and Shoreline face off on May 15. The winner of that game will go on to play Wenatchee in a three-game series – and whoever comes out on top will be the Roadrunners’ opponent.

The post Roadrunners Wrap Up Seventh Straight NWAC South Title, Await Playoffs Opponent appeared first on The Commuter.

Things got started in game one when Mark Carpenter captured a first-inning lead for LB thanks to a two-out throwing error. 

In the away second, Mt. Hood cashed in their first two runs of the ball game as well as the lead. Right after, however, the Beaks knotted things back up at 2-2 on a Matthew Talbot single that scored Landon Lea.

The third inning came and went without any base runners for either team, but in the fourth MHCC picked up a lead they never relinquished. The Saints brought home a pair of runs on four hits before LB starter Lane Simonsen got out of the inning by way of a weak pop-out.

Simonsen’s day ended there, his line for the day reading four innings pitched, three earned runs, six hits allowed and two strikeouts. With only one doubleheader left on the schedule, that will surely mark the end of Simonsen’s freshman campaign. LBCC’s day one starter finished with a 3-3 record (including the loss in this game) in 11 starts, pitching to a 4.69 ERA in 48 innings, striking out 39 batters this season. 

For the fifth, Head Coach Andy Peterson handed the ball to lefty Caiden Thomsen. Thomsen quickly walked the bases loaded and walked in a run before another scored on a fielder’s choice. Thomsen ended the inning allowing two runs on no hits. 6-2 MHCC.

Utility man Kellen Segel took over after Thomsen walked the first batter in the sixth, and the sour luck on the mound continued for LBCC. After surrendering two hits and two free passes, Segel got taken out. Preston Daniels came in to try and stop the bleeding, which he eventually did, picking up two groundouts to hold the scoring at six in the inning. The first run was credited to Thomsen, while the other five were Segel’s responsibility.

After a scoreless seventh, the game was called, as the NWAC enforces a 10-run mercy rule. 

Game two produced a more favorable outcome for the home team.

Evan Lehnert got a spot start in this one, the freshman reliever’s first of the season, and he certainly earned his keep. Lehnert came on and set the tone nicely for the Beaks, particularly in the first three innings, where he cooled a red-hot offense down to no runs on just two singles. 

Lehnert is something of a thinking man’s pitcher – he doesn’t wow you with velocity or nasty breaking pitches, but when he’s dialed in he’s shown a keen ability to fill up the zone, keep hitters off balance and force all kinds of weak contact. This was the case for him against MHCC.

The LB offense got things started in the second when Carpenter scored on an error. 1-0 Roadrunners.

In the fourth, the Saints took their only lead of the game. The only inning where they got to Lehnert in any meaningful way, MHCC plated two runs on a pair of hits to take a 2-1 lead. 

Lehnert would work quickly through the one-two-three of the Mt. Hood order in the fifth to end his day. He went five innings, struck out five, let up four hits and allowed two runs.

LBCC took back the lead in the home sixth. 

With on out, Jackson Fera on second and Segel on first, Peterson gave the signal for a double-steal. The pitch was strike three to Boston Caron, making the steal attempt a critical play down a run, and facing leaving two crucial runners on base.

Fera and Segel delivered and the good juju paid off as third baseman Jack Lussier drove them home shortly thereafter. 3-2 LB.

Dominic Daffron was the pitcher after Lehnert, and he followed his starter’s lead. Sitting the Saints down quietly through the sixth, seventh and eighth innings without allowing any runs – the little-used righty picked up his first win of the season in his third relief appearance.

In the home eighth, Linn-Benton capped off their scoring with a four-run inning to provide plenty of insurance. Action started with a Fera double before Segel did the same to knock home his teammate. 

Segel stole his second bag of the day before first baseman Boston Caron followed the examples with a double of his own to bring Segel home. A few batters later, Bryant Starr poked a triple to right to score Lussier and Caron and make it 7-2 Roadrunners.

The Saints got one back on an RBI-triple of their own in the top of the ninth, but Daffron quickly gathered himself, striking out the next batter to retire the side and win the game. 

Daffron finished with four innings pitched, allowing four hits and one run while striking out four and not letting up any walks.

Sophomore slugging in the form of Starr, Fera and Caron lead the way for the Beaks at the dish, all three having two-hit games. Starr and Caron both picked up two RBI while Fera had two stolen bases and scored twice himself.

Segel’s two-stolen-base day puts him at 19 on the season, leading the team.

With just two games to go, four Roadrunners have crossed, or are knocking on the door of, one offensive win above replacement: Noah Scharer (1.2), Starr (1.0), Segel (0.9) and Aiden Hazen (0.9).

oWAR tracks the direct correlation a player’s offensive output has to winning. One oWAR suggests that a player’s bat has directly contributed a win to the team over a hypothetical replacement player. One oWAR is a sound threshold for an elite-level offensive season in a 44-game wood bat league.

Linn-Benton will wrap up their regular season Saturday, May 9, in another doubleheader with MHCC, this time away. 

The Roadrunners clinched the South Region last week, so it remains to be seen if Peterson might toy with his starting pitching some more to keep crucial arms as rested as possible. Regardless, first pitches are set for 1 and 4 p.m.

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