By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
SPRINGFIELD, Ore.– The Silverton baseball team had to find a way to close out a highly offensive game on Thursday afternoon at the Springfield Tournament.
Through the opening four innings of the game, 20 runs were scored between the Foxes and Redmond with Silverton leading the Panthers 12-8. It was an offensive slugfest that came down to who’s defense, fighting through the fatigue of four games in four days, could come through in the clutch and string together a few stops.
And slowly, both team’s defense’s did that.
No runs were scored in the fifth, both teams traded a run in the sixth. The Foxes led 13-9 going into the seventh, and Silverton was able to pitch just their second shutout inning in the top half of the seventh to close out the Springfield Tournament undefeated.
The final score was 13-9 in favor of the Foxes.
“We locked in, pitching picked up. Hitting wise, we stepped up to the plate and we had a plan in mind. We didn’t go up there and try to hit it, we had a plan and it worked,” said Luke Horner, who led the Foxes with three hits and had 2RBI’s. “We learned a lot from the tournament, but it’s a stepping stone for future games down the line. It’s just a good opportunity.”
It wasn’t the prettiest of wins, but a gritty win is a win.
The team closed out the tournament with a win, capping a 4–0 week marked by growth on and off the field.”We didn’t play our best baseball today by any means. We were lacking early on, we were struggling on the mound and we struggled a little bit defensively. But we were able to trust each other, rely on our bats to pick us up and once we got to the pin, we were able to figure some things out on the mound and throw strikes. That really brought us through today. Kust having trust in our defense,” adds Silverton Head Coach Colton Meyer.
James Collier drove in a team-high 3RBI’s and Noah Blodgett struck out a team-high three batters pitching on Thursday. Silverton will play Redmond again on Tuesday in Redmond before closing out the non-league slate at home against West Salem and McMinnville.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
