Baseball Game Preview: South Salem Saxons vs. Gridley Bulldogs

The South Salem Saxons will challenge the Gridley Bulldogs at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

South Salem's pitching crew heads into the contest hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Wednesday. They walked away with a 5-0 win over Roseburg. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Saxons.

Kellen Bowman

Batters Struck Out

03/26/25 @ Roseburg	6
03/18/25 vs Ida B. Wells	0
05/16/24 @ Jesuit	5
05/10/24 @ West Salem	5
04/19/24 vs McNary	4
03/27/24 vs North Salem	8

Kellen Bowman tossed a big game, not allowing a single earned run while striking out six over five innings pitched. That's the most strikeouts he has posted since back in March of 2024.

At the plate, the team relied heavily on Noah Scharer, who scored two runs and stole three bases while going 4-for-4. Those three stolen bases gave him a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Josh Feik, who went 1-for-3 with one triple, two RBI, and one run.

Meanwhile, Gridley entered their tilt with Live Oak on Tuesday with two consecutive wins, and they'll enter their next game with three. They came out on top against the Lions by a score of 5-2.

Tanner Abbott made a big impact no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run and allowed only one hit while striking out 15 over six innings pitched. He has been consistent : he hasn't given up more than two hits in seven consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, going 2-for-4 with two RBI and one double.

In other batting news, Branson Busch was excellent, scoring two runs while going 1-for-2. Those runs marked the first that he scored this season.

Gridley's victory bumped their record up to 5-3. As for South Salem, their win bumped their record up to 2-0.