Never give up: South Salem rallies past Sprague in CVC baseball
Saxons come back from an 8-0 deficit to stun Olympians 11-10 on walk off hit
At the end of four innings in their Friday game with rival Sprague, South Salem coach Max Price looked up at the scoreboard, looking at an 8-0 lead for the opposition.
What was he thinking in that moment?
“I was thinking we don’t want to give up two more runs to lose the game,” Price said with a small smile. There is a ten-run rule in Oregon prep baseball.
Price got the defense he wanted and a lot more, as his Saxons rallied in the last three innings to beat Sprague 11-10 in a game to determine first place in the Central Valley Conference baseball standings.
The two teams came into their three game series this week unbeaten. Sprague won the first game Monday at Willamettte’s John Lewis Field 7-3, and South responded with a 5-2 victory Wednesday at Sprague. Friday’s game back at John Lewis Field included sunshine and temperatures in the mid 80s—and an enthusiastic crowd. Early, it looked like the visiting Olys would win again on South’s designated home turf.
In the first inning, starting Saxon pitcher Carter Nelson struggled with control early—issuing an opening walk to Sprague shortstop Brandon Stinnett. Nelson settled in and recorded a line out to center field and a strikeout. But Olympian designated hitter Eli Lowe jumped on the first pitch offered to him, and lifted the ball over the right center field fence to give Sprague a 2-0 lead.
After South went down in order in their half of the first, Sprague came to bat and doubled their lead. Olys first baseman Hayden Laudette was hit by the first pitch sent to the plate by Nelson. Pitcher Carter Lesh got aboard on a fielding error. After catcher Grant Strother grounded out, center fielder Henry Mhoon singled home Laudette, and a South throwing error pushed Lesh across as well. Sprague led after two innings, 4-0.
The Olympian defense was solid behind Lesh, squelching the Saxons offensive efforts in the first two innings, when they stranded two runners in each frame. Lesh pitched four scoreless innings for Sprague, while his team continued to generate runs.
After being shutout at the plate in the third, the Olys tallied four runs in the fourth inning. Three base hits, a hit batsman, and one fielding error helped produce the offense, and an 8-0 Olympian advantage.
South was blanked again in the bottom of the fourth, and the situation looked bleak for the Saxons. But the momentum made a slow, but perceptible change in the home team’s direction as the two teams had to go to their bullpens and younger pitchers in the closing innings.
It began with Sprague being shut down in their half of the fifth inning. Sprague’s Henry Mhoon doubled with one out in the frame, but was stranded thanks to South’s strong defense.
Then the Saxons found some offense in a big way. It started with center fielder Noah Scharer beating out a throw and juggled ball to stand at first base with nobody out. Gavin Price then walked, and Cole Weiland and Teagan Scott got on base, then Braedy Vogt punched a two-RBI single into right, generating a total of four runs in the process. South had cut the lead in half to 8-4 after five.
Sprague failed to score in the sixth inning, but South Salem had another big inning at the plate. Three doubles in the frame—by Scharer, Scott, and Sawyer Nelson—combined with a pair of walks, generated another three runs, and narrowed the Oly margin to 8-7.
The visiting Olympians finally picked up some runs—scoring two in the final inning, helped in part by young Saxon pitching, which issued three walks and hit one batsman. Sprague’s 10-7 lead could have been even larger as they had the bases loaded with just one out—but a stunning 5-2-3 double play starting at home with a throw from third baseman Kevin Semm to Teagan Scott, and from Scott to Vogt at first base ended the Olympian outburst abruptly.
That set the stage for the game-ending drama. With one out in the bottom of the seventh, South needed three runs to go to extra innings, four to win.
South rattled off four straight singles, with Gavin Price’s hit bringing in two runs, cutting the Sprague lead to 10-9 with runners at first and second. A wild pitch by the Olys allowed the runners— Price and Scharer—to advance to second and third respectively.
In response, the South batter at the plate—Cole Weiland—was intentionally walked by Sprague to load the bases. Then Teagan Scott was unintentionally walked on four straight pitches to force across a run and tie the game. That brought up senior Braedy Vogt.
Vogt calmly stood in, then drilled a ball past the glove of Sprague second baseman Andrew Mhoon, scoring Price for the win.
The Saxons celebrated passionately on the field and enjoyed the moment.
Vogt indicated these are the types of game you live for, as he hugged his father in the dugout.
With the win, South now has the advantage in the CVC baseball race, up one game on Sprague with a 5-1 record. The Olympians fall to 4-2 on the regular season. Sprague still has the edge in the OSAA power rankings at #6, while South Salem is at #12. South AD Brian Armstrong says the Saxons do have the advantage in the determination of the #1 league seed, based on head-to-head meetings.
South has eight contests remaining, including a three game league series versus West Salem, currently 0-3 in the CVC. Sprague has just five games left, with three of those against McNary, which is also winless in CVC play.
OSAA playoff action begins on Monday, May 22nd. All State title games this year are slated for Saturday, June 3. Times for each contest are to be determined.
HERE is video of the final play of Friday’s South Salem-Sprague baseball game at John Lewis Field, won by South, 11-10. (Thanks to Dan Farrington for the video link)