The South Salem Saxons will face off against the Liberty Falcons at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (South Salem has 14 straight victories, Liberty has three straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
South Salem lost a heartbreaker the last time they played Lincoln, but it's fair to say they got their revenge given the result of Tuesday's contest. The Saxons' pitcher stepped up to hand the Cardinals a 14-0 shutout on Tuesday. Considering the Saxons have won ten matches by more than five runs this season, Tuesday's blowout was nothing new.
Harrison Buckingham
| 04/22/25 vs Lincoln | 10 |
| 04/15/25 @ McNary | 10 |
| 04/08/25 vs West Linn | 5 |
| 04/02/25 @ Grant | 6 |
| 03/27/25 vs Gridley | 5 |
| 03/18/25 vs Ida B. Wells | 6 |
South Salem got a great performance from Harrison Buckingham as he didn't allow a single earned run while striking out ten over five innings pitched. Buckingham has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts any time he's pitched this season.
On the hitting side, Sawyer Nelson was a standout: he got on base in three of his four plate appearances with one home run, three runs, and four RBI. Teagan Scott was another key player, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with two stolen bases, three runs, and two RBI.
South Salem always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .581. That was just more of the same: they've now posted an OBP of .558 or higher in four consecutive games.
Meanwhile, Liberty fell victim to Forest Grove and their airtight pitching crew on Friday. They took a 3-0 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Vikings.
South Salem pushed their record up to 14-0 with the win, which was their fifth straight at home. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.6 runs on average over those games. As for Liberty, their loss dropped their record down to 3-8.
Everything went South Salem's way against Liberty in their previous matchup back in March of 2024, as South Salem made off with a 13-6 win. Will the Saxons repeat their success, or do the Falcons have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
