By James Day
For Cole Chandler it came down to familiarity – and a bit of an educational pull. The Silverton High School quarterback, who led the Foxes to a 32-4 record in three years as a starter, plans to play college football at Pacific Lutheran in Tacoma, Wash.
Chandler had considered Linfield, but picked PLU because his favorite target with the Foxes, wide receiver Logan Munson, is headed to PLU akong with his twin sister, McKenna. Munson is looking at a pre-med educational path at PLU. Chandler, who earned two first-team and one-second team mention on the Class 5A all-state teams, passed for 1,923 yards and 18 touchdowns in his senior year. Munson, a first-team all-state player in his junior and senior years, caught 69 passes for 1,054 yards and 10 TDs in his senior year.
Chandler said he was attracted to PLU’s graduate programs in education and business. He hopes to teach and coach, with the ultimate goal of being a school administrator or an athletic director.
Three other members of the 2014 Silverton squad, which lost to Hermiston in the state title game, are hoping to play in college. Defensive lineman Camryn Clokey, a two-time all-state choice, is head to Santa Monica City College in California. Two-way standout Sam Kuschnick plans to walk-on at Oregon State and linebacker Colton Cypert is headed to Linfield.
Softball: Silverton has rallied from an 0-6 start to move into first place in the Mid-Willamette. The Foxes have won nine in a row and are 9-1 in league, one game ahead of 9-3 Dallas, with 8-3 Central and 8-4 Lebanon also in the hunt. The squad is ranked No. 8 in Class 5A by the OSAA.
Silverton played a tough preseason. Since then the Foxes have outscored opponents 82-17 and hit double figures six times.
“The preseason was tough and tested the character of our team,” Coach Ralph Cortez said. “It prepared us for the toughest competition in our league and later down the road in the playoffs.”
Leading the way for Silverton is a veteran core that includes senior catcher and all-state returnee Kayla Stocker as well as sophomore pitcher Alex Molloy and sophomore infielders Megan Mannion and Daisy Hernandez. Key newcomers include power-hitting freshman outfielder-catcher Maggie Roth, leadoff hitter Maggie Buckholz and Katelyn Hickam, who hits for power and Cortez says “helps the team stay loose.”
Kennedy, meanwhile, is 4-1 and tied with Central Linn for first place in the Tri-River. The Trojans are ranked No. 4 by the OSAA, with Central Linn second.
Baseball: Kennedy, which has won four consecutive league titles, is currently locked in a three-way battle with Regis and Country Christian in the Tri-River. Regis leads the way with a 5-0 mark, with the Trojans and Country Christian at 4-1. Regis got the better of Kennedy by a 14-1 count on April 22 in Mount Angel. The two teams, who play May 13 in Stayton, also met in last spring’s Class 2A-1A quarterfinals, with Regis claiming an 8-6 thriller.
Marathon: Silverton’s Christina Clark, 43, ran the April 20 Boston Marathon. Clark ran the 26.2 miles in 4:02.24, a 9:15 mile pace.
Winter update: My April 1 report on winter college athletes failed to include Chase Davis, a 2012 Silverton grad who is a junior at Eastern Washington. Davis took fifth at the Big Sky Conference indoor meet, vaulting 15-9 3/4 to move into fourth place all time at Eastern.
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