CVC baseball, softball coming out of spring break: a report
South, Sprague baseball, South, McNary softball playing well
League play begins in Salem-Keizer baseball and softball next week, but after last week’s spring break games, a few teams have risen above the pack in the Central Valley Conference. Here is a brief overview of where things stand in both activities.
SOFTBALL
South Salem and McNary—which both advanced to the post season last year—appear poised to do it again in 2023.
SOUTH SALEM
The seventh rated Saxons—who lost in the opening round of the 2022 6A playoffs, have started 6-2 on the season. After losing an eight-inning heartbreaker to open the year at #8 Sherwood, South rattled off five straight victories. They lost to Dallas—the number one 5A team—while playing at a spring break tournament in Medford, but ended the week with an eight inning victory, 3-2, over North Medford
Longtime Saxon coach Scott McCormick has gotten consistently solid pitching from junior Rowan Thompson—who has yielded just nine earned runs in eight games, while yielding just 24 hits, while recording 91 strikeouts against just eighteen walks. In the Medford tournament, Rowan pitched four games in a little over 28 hours.
Offensively, South is averaging nearly ten runs a game through the end of spring break, and there is a long list of players hitting very well McCormick says Thompson, Hannah Tapusua, Desi Hatfield and Ashley Orr are all hitting over .400 so far this season. He says the defense for his team continues to be a work in progress.
MCNARY
The tenth ranked Celtics made a surprisingly strong run in last season’s softball playoffs, advancing to the semi-finals before losing to eventual state champion Tigard.
Coach Kelly Parsell’s squad opened play in March with an 11-0 shutout of Reynolds, then fell to top-rated Sheldon, 5-3. McNary followed up by topping Dallas/Perrydale—the #1 team in the 5A classification—3-2. In their fourth contest, the Celtics faced second-ranked Mountainside of Beaverton, but came up short by a count of 10-4. They finished the spring break series of games with three straight victories to stand at 5-2.
McNary’s defense is anchored by pitcher Lacey Vasas, a defensive and offensive mainstay from 2022. The team also returns a strong core of juniors and seniors: hard-hitting Ali Martinez, Aspynn Westby, and Samantha Carpenter are among the top contributors back for the Celts.
The CVC regular season for softball begins the second full week of April. On Wednesday, April 12, McNary hosts North Salem, and West Salem travels to South Salem.
BASEBALL
Central Valley baseball squads from South Salem High and Sprague sit atop the non-conference standings coming out of spring break—looking to build upon their early momentum.
SOUTH SALEM
Last season, a very young Saxon squad managed to win just six of 24 games in the 2022 season, finishing 43rd out of 44 6A teams statewide. This is a new season, and the upstart South team is off to a solid start—and has been perfect… in the wins department. 7-0, to be exact, through the end of spring break.
Max Price’s Saxon team has had some impressive victories. After opening the season with a 7-3 victory at 5A Centennial—the Saxons thumped Reynolds 17-3, and pounded Liberty 12-3 at Ron Tonkin Field in Hillsboro. More easy wins came in succession—with the spring break run ending with a tight 2-0 win over Wells of Portland.
Several South players have had impressive games during the start of the 2023 season.
Sophomore outfielder Noah Scharer was the Saxons’ player of the game in the opening win over Centennial—going 1-3, with a double and three stolen bases.
Sophomore pitcher Gavin Price picked up the win in the blowout win over Reynolds, while also going 2-5 in the 17-0 win.
In the 12-3 victory over Liberty, South pushed nine runs across in the top of the seventh inning to break open a tight game, punctuated by senior Cole Weiland’s three-run inside-the-park home run.
Overall, the games have had different heroes to point to at the end of each contest. Top performers for South include sophomore Boyd Messman, with the top batting average of .476, along with 11 RBIs. Messman, Weiland and, Scharer top the team with ten runs and ten hits each.
The Saxons put their unbeaten record on the line with a big road game Tuesday at 8-2 Roseburg. South is rated seventh, Roseburg ranked eighth as of Monday afternoon.
SPRAGUE
The Olympians made the 6A baseball playoffs last year, advancing to the second round before falling to eventual state champion West Linn, 4-0.
Sprague coach Luke Bucheit returns a long list of playoff-toughened players with several seasons of experience under their belts. They include: senior outfielder and RHP Will Hassoon; fellow senior catcher and RHP Grant Strother; and junior infielder and LHP Hayden Laudette.
The Olympians have gotten off to a strong start of 8 wins and two losses, and an early power ranking of 17th.
The Olys jumped out quickly with a pair of shutout victories over 5A Bend and Sunset. They then lost two straight, including a 4-3 defeat at the hands of second ranked Jesuit.
Sprague ended its spring break schedule with six straight victories—including a 4-0 record at a tournament in Phoenix, Arizona. All-totaled, Sprague outscored their opponents 81-25 to open the season, with three shutouts.
The CVC baseball season rolls out slowly—with the first game on April 11, featuring Sprague at West Salem.