Bits & Pieces-Sunshine Edition 4/27/23
Some NFL football notes with local ties, prep baseball, and more
In celebration of spring sunshine inundating the mid-Willamette Valley, here is yet another edition of Bits & Pieces—small sports items still worthy of coverage.
AARON ROGERS—AND ANOTHER OREGON CONNECTION OR TWO
Aaron Rodgers met the NFL media on Wednesday in New York—the first time since being traded from Green Bay to the Jets. Rodgers, who wore the number 12 while quarterbacking at Green Bay, is going to wear his old college number (8) with New York. Even though the Jets obtained permission from Hall of Famer Joe Namath to use his retired number of 12, Rodgers indicated he didn’t want to un-retire a number like Joe Willie’s. Before playing college ball at Cal, Rodgers wore the number 12 in high school.
This brought up the question as to why Rodgers ended up with the number 12 in Green Bay when he was drafted back in 2005—instead of sticking with his college number 8. Good question—and it does involve a former standout player who hails from the state of Oregon—the reason this story is being told.
Kicker Ryan Longwell, who—like Rodgers—played his college ball at Cal, was signed by the Packers in 1997 after four years in Berkeley, and HE already had 8 on his jersey. Longwell played nine seasons in Green Bay, another six in Minnesota, and a final season totaling seven games in Seattle. Longwell is ranked second on the Pack’s all-time scoring list, behind his successor at kicker, Mason Crosby. Ironically, Longwell’s high school number (3) was retired at his prep alma mater, Bend High.
Rodgers, while pondering his potential future in football next season, traveled to Southern Oregon in February—living in darkened conditions for four days as a way of meditating about his options.
On a personal note, I got to see Longwell play for Bend. He boomed some forty-yard FG attempts in practice before the Lava Bears played at South Salem several decades back.
SPRAGUE, OREGON STATE GRAD INVOLVED IN EXTRA NFL TRAINING
Most NFL players have had some time-off from the game this spring, but former Sprague High and Oregon State tight end Teagan Quitoriano is among players from a handful of teams that will be holding extra football practice sessions in the spring.
Houston is among five NFL teams holding mandatory veteran minicamps in mid-June, which is allowed when a team hires a new head football coach. Houston, along with Arizona, Carolina, Denver and Indy, have new head coaches.
The camp will be the culmination of nine weeks of voluntary training, conditioning, and instruction with players. Houston’s new head man is DeMeco Ryans, who had been the defensive coordinator at San Francisco—and is a former Houston linebacker.
Houston actually began practices on April 11th. Quitoriano’s mom, Bobbi, traveled to Houston and caught a few photos of her son working out and apparently enjoying the experience.
A voluntary minicamp for players is scheduled for April 25-27, ahead of this year’s NFL Draft. More intensive off-season work outs are slated for parts of May and June, and the Texans’ mandatory minicamp is scheduled for June 13th and 14th.
SOCCER STADIUM PROPOSED AS PART OF SALEM’S MASSIVE RIVERFRONT DEVELOPMENT PROJECT
Plans for a major development in Salem at the site of the more than 100-year old Truitt Brothers Cannery on the Willamette River were announced earlier this month. But new details were shared on Wednesday, and for sports fans, it is big.
In addition to multi-family housing units, a brewery and some restaurants—developers are looking to add a major soccer stadium at the site.
Developer Trent Michaels—a former Salem resident—shared Wednesday that he is having talks with the minor league level United Soccer League—to construct a soccer stadium at the north end of the property along Front Street—a facility that could provide seating for thousands. The vision is to use the venue for not only for pro soccer, but also events like concerts, festivals and local sports games for more than 150 nights during the year.
The vision for the entire project includes public access trails along the river. The hope is the project will be the crown jewel of downtown Salem.
No firm start date for project work has been set yet, but the development team still is shooting for a construction start date sometime in 2024.
Further details about the project can be found in a story in Wednesday’s Statesman Journal.
MCNARY ATHLETES COME TOGETHER FOR COLLEGE SIGNINGS
19 McNary High students gathered in the school gym in Keizer Wednesday to sign athletic letters of intent to their respective schools.
With family and friends looking on from the stands, the soon-to-be-graduates put their signature on papers to play their respective sports at schools in a total of six states, ranging in levels from community college to Division I institutions, and with sports ranging from volleyball and football, to softball and lacrosse.
The list is bigger than is normal for a bits and pieces column, but a very succinct story on the signing ceremony can be found online in the Keizertimes newspaper.
BIG LOCAL BASEBALL SERIES WRAPS UP FRIDAY
Sprague and South Salem—the top two teams in Central Valley Conference baseball—square off Friday in the third and deciding game of their series. The 5:00 pm contest will determine who has sole possession of first place in the CVC.
Sprague won the first game at Willamette University’s John Lewis Field on Monday 7-3, while South avenged the loss with a 5-2 road win Wednesday at Sprague. The two teams are both 4-1 going into the pivotal game at John Lewis Field—the Saxons’ designated home field for the series.
The game Wednesday was a reversal of fortune for South, which started slow in the first game Monday. The Saxons scored two runs in each of the first two innings to build a 4-0 lead.
In the first, two back-to-back singles by Gavin Price and Cole Weiland with one out got South Salem off to a good start. A pickoff attempt at first base by Sprague was off line, and the Saxons scored Price, while Weiland got to third base. An infield single by clean-up batter Teagan Scott brought in Weiland and South led it 2-0.
After Sprague failed to score in the bottom of the first, South Salem pushed across two more runs in the second.
Sawyer Nelson drilled a double to right field off Sprague starting pitcher Eli Lowe in the second. After an out, Gavin Price stepped up next and pounded a 2-2 curve ball over the left field fence to give South a 4-0 advantage. The Saxons never lost their lead.
South starting pitcher Sawyer Nelson was steady on the mound, with three early shutout innings punctuated by a stellar 6-4-3 double play in the second inning.
Sprague did not go away quietly though, using a walk, a single, and a double in the bottom of the fourth to cut the Saxon lead to 4-2.
After scoreless innings in the fifth and sixth, South picked up an insurance run. Senior Braedy Vogt recorded his first homer of the season, plunking a solo HR over the right-center field fence in the seventh.
Noah Scharer came on in relief on the mound for the Saxons, but struggled a bit—loading up the bases with two walks and a hit batsman. A flyout to center field ended the drama, and South escaped with the 5-2 road victory.
Weiland picked up the win on the mound for South Salem, improving to 3-1 with an ERA of 1.80. Scharer recorded his first save of the year.
South (14-3 overall) is ranked 13th in the latest OSAA power rankings, while Sprague (15-5) is rated eighth.