Baseball: Locals help Linn-Benton to NWAC title

Jun. 1—The Linn-Benton Roadrunners defeated Mt. Hood Community College Tuesday afternoon, in the championship game of the Northwest Athletic Conference 2022 baseball season.

Tuesday's game had several Clatsop County and southwest Washington connections, as the Linn-Benton roster includes Warrenton's Jake Morrow, Astoria graduate Dylan Rush, and Ethan Lindstrom of Naselle, Washington.

The trio is in its third year at Linn-Benton, but all three are freshman in eligibility. Meanwhile, Knappa's Eli Takalo is a freshman pitcher for Mt. Hood.

In Tuesday's championship, Morrow was 0-for-3 with a walk in his final game with Linn-Benton. Lindstrom played but did not have an official at-bat, while Rush and Takalo did not play.

To get to the championship game, Linn-Benton defeated Lane Community College (9-3), Edmonds (6-1) and Lower Columbia College (2-1), with a 15-7 loss to Everett Monday.

Morrow was 3-for-4, drew a walk and scored twice in Monday's loss. He was 2-for-4 with a triple and drove in a run in the win over Lower Columbia; and he walked three times with one hit and scored three runs in the victory over Edmonds.

Morrow received the tournament's Designated Hitter award on the all-tournament team.

In 40 games for the Roadrunners this season, Morrow hit .262 (37-for-141), and scored 24 runs with nine doubles and three triples.

A catcher with Linn-Benton, Morrow will play this summer for the Okotoks Dawgs in Canada, returns home in August, then will begin attending and playing baseball for the University of Washington next fall.

Lindstrom batted .233 with a pair of doubles this season, while Rush was 1-1 on the mound, with one save and a 3.00 earned run average.