By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
SALEM, Ore.– The Marion Berries had their hands full to make Monday night’s home game against Corvallis come to fruition.
About four weeks ago, they had to find a new home after finding out the field renovation at Willamette University was not going to be done in time for this West Coast League season. They approached Chemeketa Community College about possibly using their field to host their home games this season. The local junior college didn’t shy away from the challenge given to them as they asked what they could do to help.
“They didn’t shy away from it. They told us, ‘Hey, what do you need?’ We see the benefit of it helping Chemeketa operate some of their facilities, so how can we help them?,” said General Manager Pat Zajac. “They were tremendous in helping us across the board with getting all the construction crews out here to turn the field around to turn the seating around, get new dugout tops built.
“Nothing but good things to say about Chemeketa. “
New LED lights, new sound systems, and the addition of stands and picnic tables to accommodate the increased foot traffic were installed and improved upon. Field improvements came with it too smooth out the playing field of any tiny bumps and hills on the field, and new cinders in the outfield in the warning track were new with the arrival of the Berries.
And when the Berries arrived, they didn’t shy away against the Knights. The crowd showed
The squad, while their new home field was being worked on, played their first 19 games on the road. They went 9-10 over that span in the WCL and had their hands full, knowing the powerhouse team that they were facing with Corvallis.
But what comes the adversity of the road games is the team comradery of the long road trips to play these games.
“The thing when you’re on the road for so many games is that you come close together,” said Marion Berries Head Coach Tucker Brack
“Tonight was the first night where we had everybody and a full roster, but you gwt bonded together riding on a bus, sleeping in a hotel room, eating dinner, getting back late. Yeah, it’s hard, but to better 9-10 coming into tonight with all the games anf who we played, that’s a credit to these guys for what they’ve done and the work they put in.
“I think we got a chance if we play catch and get timely hitting, we’ll be good.”
The Knights led 2-1 going into the bottom half of the third inning before the Marion Berries wheeled off 13 unanswered to take a 14-2 lead going into the ninth inning of play en route to a 14-7 victory over Corvallis in front of 1,221 people at Chemeketa Community College
“Love the support from Salem, we weren’t sure how many would show out, but like they said, it was sold out. Super great crowd, especially being from Salem, there’s a lot of support from around the area. Awesome experience, awesome win. We finally got all of our guys,” said Sprague’s Andrew Mhoon. “We’re hoping to go on a big win streak and make playoffs and make a deep run.”
Mhoon, who just graduated from Sprague, went 4-for-5 with 2RBI’s in the win as the recent Olympian-grad prepares for his freshman year at Loyola Marymont University.
“The difference in skill, it’s a big gap for sure. But I’ve been training hard, playing good baseball my whole life, and it’s a great experience to get better,” starts Mhoon. “A lot of guys who are better surround you and stuff. It’s a great experience.”
The Marion Berries improve to 10-10 on the year and will be back at it Tuesday night to play Bend at Chemeketa Community College. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30pm.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
