Ex-Silverton High standout Anders Green will continue to pursue his baseball dreams at the highest level.
Green, a 2015 Foxes graduate who just finished two star-studded seasons at the College of San Mateo in California, will move on to Dallas Baptist University in the fall. The Patriots, a Division I school that plays baseball in the Missouri Valley Conference, lost in the NCAA regionals this season to eventual College World Series participant TCU and has played in the post-season six of the past seven years under coach Dan Heefner.
“It’s been my dream school since my junior year in high school,” Green told Our Town in a telephone interview from Seattle, where he is participating in a summer training program. “I’m real excited to be going there.”
At San Mateo Green, a 6-1, 190-pound switch-hitting shortstop, helped lead the Bulldogs to a 60-23 record, including a glittering 18-2 Coast Golden Gate Conference mark this past season.
Green batted .351 this year, including seven home runs, 43 runs scored and 44 RBIs.
“Anders was outstanding for us this year,” CSM coach Doug Williams told Our Town. “Statistically he was the best offensive player in the state the first half of the season. He was steady at shortstop and a team leader. Great student and absolute class act. No one worked harder in the batting cages.”
Which is what Green is doing this summer with Driveline Baseball in Seattle.
“Everything,” Green said when asked what he is working on. “A lot of physical training. A lot of at-bats off of live pitching. It’s a good deal.”
Green plans to major in kinesiology at Dallas Baptist and said a possible future career path might be in “player development.” Perhaps his own.
“He has a bright future in and out of the game,” Williams said. “I truly believe he will be successful in whatever he does. He caught the eyes of many professional scouts and I think he will have a chance to play professional baseball soon.”
Here is a look at how other athletes with area ties fared with their college teams:
Morgan Anderson: The former Silverton athlete from Scotts Mills took 28th in the 1,500 and 37th in the 5,000 at the NCAA West Regional meet in Austin, Texas. The redshirt senior finished her Oregon State University career with the No. 2 outdoor mark in the 1,500 (4:22.94), the third-best in the 5,000 (16:25.47) and fifth in the 800 (2:11.54). Indoors Anderson was second on the all-time OSU list in the mile (4:47.32), fourth in the 3,000 (9:43.11) and 800 (2:15.26).
She also participated on the Beavers’ No. 1 4×800 and distance medley relay squads while in the classroom she was selected to seven all-academic teams in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track by the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.
Devin Geiger: The George Fox University senior from Silverton took third in the high jump (6-4.25) and fifth in the long jump (21-5.5) to help lead the Bruins to their first Northwest Conference men’s track and field championship.
Dustin Meyer: The Pacific University sophomore infielder from Silverton played in 30 games and started 25 for the 15-23 Boxers. Meyer batted .165 with six RBIs, five sacrifices and four stolen bases.
J’Rett Baker: The junior track and field athlete for Corban University took eighth for the Warriors in the javelin (165-8) and 11th in the discus (121-2) at the Cascade Collegiate Conference championships.
Aiden Bahr: The freshman men’s soccer defender at University of Northwestern/St. Paul saw action in two games for the Eagles.
Kennedy High has won the Oregonian Cup for a second consecutive year.
The Trojans accumulated 2,190 points, which are awarded for team and activity performance in all Oregon School Activities Association-sanctioned competitions as well as academic and sportsmanship. West McEwen (1,947.5) was second in Class 2A, with Regis, Kennedy’s Tri-River Conference rival, finishing third with 1,890.
“The Oregonian Cup is a great honor,” said Kennedy Athletic Director Kevin Moffatt. “I think we have the best athletic program in all of 2A. We were always near the top, but we have been really good the past two years on the field and in the classroom. Almost all of our teams made the state playoffs, we had five teams finish in the top four and all our teams had GPAs over 3.0. Pretty incredible.”
Those top four teams were football, softball, girls cross country, girls basketball and boys track and field. The Oregonian Cup will be awarded to Kennedy at a school assembly in the fall.
Silverton, meanwhile, also turned in an excellent all-around performance. The Foxes scored 2,937.5 points, good for fifth in Class 5A. Two Silverton squads, girls soccer and girls basketball, were runner-ups in the state, with the softball squad making it to the state semifinals. The Foxes also turned in strong academic performances as well (see next item).
Academic all-state: For the fourth consecutive year all Kennedy sports and activity teams had at least a 3.0 grade-point average.
“It helps when your best athletes are (also) your best students,” Moffatt said, mentioning salutatorian Bishop Mitchell, straight-A student Kaylin Cantu, co-valedictorians Brett Traeger and Jack Suing, plus Tressa Riedman and Hannah Arritola, both of whom turned in 4.0s.
“We really have an amazing group of kids going through here right now.,” Moffatt said. “They really have earned all these accolades through hard work. We also have great parent and community support, great coaches and great teachers. Will be interesting if the new group of kids takes the same approach.”
The best team academic performance for the Trojans was girls cross country with a 3.82. Volleyball had a 3.81, with softball at 3.73 and girls basketball at 3.71. Softball and baseball (3.58) finished with the top marks in their class, with volleyball and boys track and field (3.38) taking second.
The top academic performer for Silverton was girls cross country at 3.91, tied for fifth in Class 5A. Girls basketball and girls tracks and field, meanwhile, turned in 3.75s. Six Foxes teams finished third in their class: girls basketball, volleyball (3.65), boys track and field (3.63), choir (3.5), baseball (3.44) and football (3.19). In addition, the Foxes’ dance and drill team’s 3.67 was fifth, with all classes competing together.
Silverton volleyball: The Foxes have hired 1993 Silverton graduate Linda Riedman to take over the program from Jill Walker. A three-sport standout at Silverton, Riedman earned her bachelor’s from Santa Clara University and picked up an MBA later on. She served as a basketball assistant at the University of Portland before embarking on a career in public relations.
“Silverton High School feels fortunate that she is back home and eager to contribute to the growth of the kids in the community,” said Foxes Athletic Director Wade Lockett. “She is extremely dedicated and committed to maximizing Silverton High School student athletes’ potential both on and off the court.”
Oregon sports awards: Kennedy High three-sport star Bishop Mitchell was one of three finalists for Johnny Carpenter Male Athlete of the Year for Class 4A-1A. Hunter Knox of Harrisburg won the award. The other finalist was Blake Sentman of Cottage Grove.
