By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
SALEM, Ore.– With his Junior College career drawing to a close, Stayton-grad and Chemeketa sophomore Cody Leming was one of two Storm ballplayers to be named as Gold Glove recipients going into the NWAC Super Regional at Columbia Basin College in Pasco, Washington on Friday.
“It’s awesome. Definitely going into it, it was not…never aiming for that award, I’m just trying to play good defense. We put up some good numbers on defense this year and I think it really helped to get us where we are now,” said Leming.
Brody Hubble was the other Gold Glove recipient as an outfielder when league awards were announced. Sprague’s Taylor Brenneman was an NWAC South Region first team Starting Pitcher, Lance Kreisberg was named First team DH, Jack Klee (Relief Pitcher) and Joey Genduso (Outfielder) were named to the Second team All-NWAC South Region selections as the Storm snapped a six-year playoff drought.
Under fourth-year Head Coach Gerhett Moser, an Chemeketa Alum from 2015, the Storm have been building for this moment. But it didn’t seem as if it was meant to be at the start of the season.
They started the year 9-12 going into April 29’s doubleheader with Umpqua Community College, part of a NWAC South four-game series, but after taking that four-game stretch three games to one, Chemeketa began to turn things around.
Since that day’s doubleheader split down in Roseburg, the Storm have gone 18-8, roaring to life as they head to CBC needing three wins for their first Final Site berth since 2016.
“We started to focus more on being competitive. Guys, it takes time to figure out what we’re trying to get out of them as coaches. The thing that I care most about, is when you leave here, you’re in a position where you can handle adversity and be better than when you showed up here,” said Moser. “It takes time for that and I think the guys have bought in to we’re going to thrive in those adverse situations and find a way. I think that is what is the catalyst for us making a little bit of a run. Just being confident that if something goes wrong, we’re going to be just fine.”
“We’ve been working hard all year, just grinding, grinding away and putting in the work. It’s just awesome to make the playoffs and try to make it to Longview,” adds Brenneman.
Longview, Washington is the location of the Final Site where eight teams will contend for the NWAC Title. And that ride starts Friday when Chemeketa plays Skagit Valley in the NWAC Super Regionals in a win-or-go-home game.
A win there however, would pin the Storm against Columbia Basin in a Best-of-3 series to reach the final location of the season.
“It’s just one game at a time. Right now we’re just focusing on that first one, doing whatever we can to win and go from there. Don’t look at nothing too far ahead, just stay present and getting after the moment,” said Brenneman.
“We’re thinking of it as a faceless opponent. We can go out there and play good Chemek baseball, we can beat anybody. I’m just looking forward to it, winning the first one and see where it takes us from there,” adds Leming.
