By James Day
Just a few short years ago Colton Meyer was playing football and baseball at Silverton High. Now, after a college career at Linfield and summer ball with the Corvallis Knights, Meyer, 24, is in charge of the Foxes baseball fortunes.
Silverton is 9-14 overall and 6-9 in the Mid-Willamette Conference this season. It should be noted that although the squad is just seventh in the league, all six teams ahead of them are ranked in the top 15 in Class 5A, including No. 3 West Albany and No. 5 Crescent Valley.
“The team has made some tremendous progress from the beginning of the year to where we are now,” Meyer told Our Town. “Being a new coach and bringing some new members to the coaching staff [and] redefining who we are as a team is a big part of our role this year.
“Figuring out what type of culture we want for our program and modeling it for our players every day. I believe as the season has gone on we are starting to see more buy-in from the players to our culture and what we want to accomplish each year.”
Key contributors to this year’s squad, Meyer said, are Logan Hendrickson (hitting), James Brady (outfield play), pitchers Sawyer Enderle and Wyatt Postlewait, freshmen Colson Swartz, James Collier, Luke Horner, Trey Cartensen, and Henry Briggs, Cade Wynn (all-around skill), Hudson Waples (outfield defense), Nolan Horner (strength and toughness) and pinch runner Austin Zajdel.
The squad has a chance to finish with a .500 record. Down the stretch the Foxes play 0-15 McKay and then close with a home-and-home series against 8-7 Dallas.
Kennedy, meanwhile, fell to 12-2 in Class 2A-1A’s Special District 2 by dropping a doubleheader at Blanchet Catholic on May 8. The sweep allowed the second-ranked Cavaliers to move to 14-0 and clinch the district title. Kennedy, ranked seventh, already has clinched a state playoff berth. The Trojans downed Blanchet in last year’s state title game.
Tennis: The Silverton girls tennis team had a 12-1 dual match record at Our Town presstime. The Foxes’ lone loss was to defending state champion Crescent Valley. Turnout was again strong, with coach Shawn Pool reporting that Silverton has 36 players on the roster.
Junior Audrey Gardner is the top singles player, while senior Paige Davisson and freshman sister Ashlyn Davisson compose the top doubles squad. Paige Davisson and then-partner Lindsey Gardner took fourth at state a year ago. Pool told Our Town that he things this year’s duo also could place at state.
Softball: Silverton will play four games over a seven-day period that might determine who wins the Mid-Willamette Conference championship. The Foxes, 19-4 overall and 12-2 in league play, are ranked third in the state. Top-ranked Dallas (21-2, 14-1) leads the league, but that one Dragons loss came April 24 in a 9-7 defeat at Silverton. The Foxes close the regular season at Dallas on May 15 but likely need to win out in earlier games against West Albany (9-5), Crescent Valley (4–11) and McKay (0-14) for the season finale to determine the league title.
Track & Field: Olivia Boyd of Silverton is the top-ranked high jumper in Class 5A with a mark of 5-6 as the Foxes peak toward district and state competition. Boyd won the state Class 2A title a year ago at Gervais with a leap of 5-4.25. Silverton hosted the Mid-Willamette district meet at McGinnis Field May 9 – 11 after Our Town deadline. The state meet is May 17-18 at Hayward Field in Eugene.
Other top Class 5A marks turned in by Foxes include Elijah Willis (second in the javelin and fifth in the shot put) and David Hari (fourth, long jump).
Kennedy, which competed in its district meet at Portland Christian on May 10-11, is led by Tia Allen (tops in the discus at 124-6), Alyse Williams (second, long jump) and Cole Vogel (third, 110 hurdles). The 2A state meet is May 16-17 at Hayward Field.
Signings: Four more Silverton athletes have signed on for college participation. Volleyball standouts Farrah Keith and Gracelyn Jensen have chosen the community college route, with Keith head to Chemeketa and Jensen to Lane. Olivia Boyd will compete in track and field at Western Oregon, while cheerleader Brianna Koster is headed to Washington State.
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