04/13/2025
Our Town baseball
Nygren, defense lead Foxes to 2-0 win in league opener
By James Day
The Silverton High baseball team opened the Mid-Willamette Conference season in fine style with a 2-0 victory against visiting Crescent Valley at Davisson Field on Saturday afternoon.
The win lifted the hosts, ranked No. 5 in Class 5A, to 8-1 this season. The Raiders fell to 1-7.
“It’s pitching and defense,” said Foxes second-year coach Colton Meyer. “As long as we pitch and defend like this we’re going to be successful against anybody. And our bats are going to come around.”
Senior right-hander Bryson Nygren fired a three-hit shutout and struck out 10 batters in a masterful performance from the transfer from Regis. Nygrren allowed runners to reach third only twice and retired 14 C.V. hitters in a row in the third through seventh innings.
“He really looked good,” said catcher Wyatt Postlewait, who had perhaps the best view of Nygren’s gem. “I've caught him for a long time. He has such confidence. He knows he’s going to do it. His location today was top-tier.”
“He’s been super to have on the team,” Meyer said of Nygren. “He fits in well with everyone else. It’s really great when you can start out in league play with a shutout like that.”
“My arm felt good,” Nygren said. “That first inning (when the Foxes scored both of their runs) was big for us. Great to have that 2-0 lead. And I like working through adversity. Our defense came up clutch.”
Silverton committed just one error, with senior third baseman Sawyer Enderle standing out repeatedly by ranging to his left to snag grounders. Enderle also made the defensive play of the game by ranging far into foul ground near the bullpen to reel in a pop fly from Mikey Terry in the top of the seventh.
“We got great senior leadership from all three,” Meyer said of Enderle, Nygren and Postlewait. “That just shows you what happens when you put the work in. It’s paying off.”
Enderle said the Foxes practice regularly at going after foul flies such as the one from Terry.
“It was one of those balls where I’m saying ‘I can get to that,’ “ Enderle said.
Silverton scored all of the runs it would need in the bottom of the first against C.V. starter Quinn Sissel. Leadoff hitter Colson Swartz walked, stole second and took third on a sharp single to left by Enderle. An errant kickoff attempt by Sissel brought home Swartz and Enderle scored moments later on a bases-loaded walk.
Terry walked and eventually reached third in the second and the lone Foxes error, a sacrifice bunt and a groundout put leadoff man Rylan Mosbrucker on third in the third inning, but Nygren used strikeouts to end both innings. That third inning started a run of 14 consecutive retired batters by the lanky right-hander.
With two outs in the seventh Cason Jacobs singled to left, but Nygren used another strikeout, his 10th, to end the game. And who knows how much of a threat it might have been had Enderle not made his defensive gem on Terry?
“I'm really excited,” said Enderle. “This was a great team win and I really like our energy. I love this team. We’re proving ourselves more and more.”
Notes: The game was played in a super-brisk one hour and 29 minutes on a pleasant spring day. Sissel walked six batters and hit one, but showed a strong ability to work out of trouble. He left the bases loaded in that first inning and used a 4-6-3 double play to end a first-and-second threat in the fifth. The Foxes also put two runners on in the sixth with two outs against reliever Zeke Thomas, but he retired Swartz on a grounder to end the threat. Silverton left eight runners on base to five for C.V. … The game originally had been scheduled for Friday, but it was pushed back a day because of the campus lockdown at Silverton. … Also winning Mid-Willamette openers were Lebanon, Corvallis, Dallas and Central. Dallas, at No. 10, is the highest-ranked team in that foursome. It’s an 18-game league season, with each team playing a two-game series against the other nine league teams. The Foxes visit C.V. on Monday, then they tangle with McKay on April 16 and April 18. … And, yes, Crescent Valley is 1-7, but don’t look for that record to last. Three of the losses were in a tournament in Arizona, and the Raiders have been the gold standard among Mid-Willamette teams in the past decade with a state title in 2022, a runner-up in 2018, semifinal slots in 2016 and 2017, and quarterfinal advances in 2015, 2019 and last year, when they won the MWC with a 17-1 record.
Mugshots: Nygren, Postlewait, Enderle
Crescent Valley 000 000 0 – 0 3 1
Silverton 200 000 X – 2 3 1
Batteries: Sissel, Thomas (6) and Terry. Nygren and Postlewait. WP: Nygren. LP: Sissel. 2B: Schoeffler (CV). Records: Silverton 8-1 overall 1-0 Mid-Willamette Conference; Crescent Valley 1-7, 0-1.
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