Baseball Game Preview: South Salem Saxons vs. West Salem Titans

The South Salem Saxons will face off against the West Salem Titans at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (South Salem has 20 straight victories, West Salem has three straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.

South Salem is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Oregon's top teams: Sprague, who was ranked 21st at the time (South Salem was ranked second). The Saxons had just enough and edged out the Olympians 15-14 on Friday. The pitching woes were uncharacteristic for the Saxons, who until this game were averaging 2.55 runs allowed.

Gavin Price

Runs (Career)

05/09/25 vs Sprague	4
03/27/25 vs Gridley	3
03/27/24 vs North Salem	3
05/07/25 @ Sprague	2
04/23/25 vs Liberty	2

South Salem let Sawyer Nelson and Gavin Price run wild. Nelson went 3-for-5 with one home run, three runs, and three RBI, while Price got on base in five of his six plate appearances with one home run, four runs, and two RBI. Those four runs gave Price a new career-high. Jackson Buckingham was another key player, going a perfect 5-for-5 with two RBI and one run.

They weren't the only ones making solid contact: South Salem kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 16 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least nine hits in six consecutive matches.

Meanwhile, West Salem didn't have quite enough to beat Willamette on Friday and fell 6-5. That's two games in a row now that the Titans have lost by just one run.

South Salem's win was their ninth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 20-0. As for West Salem, their loss dropped their record down to 8-13.

Everything went South Salem's way against West Salem in their previous meeting back in May of 2024, as South Salem made off with a 17-4 victory. Will the Saxons repeat their success, or do the Titans have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.