Reporter for The Canyon Weekly
The Santiam softball program finished up its Spring Break week work and non-league season with a 6-2 record.
The Wolverines downed Harrisburg/Monroe 7-5 and Gaston 12-7 on Tuesday, March 26 in a round-robin tournament at Scio. Santiam opened with a 7-1 loss to Santiam Christian on Monday, March 25.
The OSAA’s computers have taken notice of the strong start by coach Greg Grenbemer’s softball squad by placing the Wolverines sixth in Class 2A-1A.
“We are playing well on both sides of the ball,” Grenbemer told The Canyon Weekly. “With league opening up after Spring Break we feel we have a good opportunity to finish towards the top of our league. McKenna Dodge has led the defense with her outstanding pitching. Our offense has been impressive, with four different players hitting home runs so far, but we need to keep working on our intensity throughout the game.”
The softball squad opens Special District 3 play on Tuesday, April 2 with a doubleheader at Culver. Game one is set to get underway at 2 p.m. The weather on the east side of the Cascades is scheduled to be springlike, with temperatures perhaps hitting 70 degrees and little or no chance of rain.
The baseball Wolverines, with coach Clint Forste back in the dugout, was 4-4 through Spring Break week after going 0-3 in the baseball bracket of the Scio tournament. Santiam lost Monday, March 25 to Class 3A and tournament host Scio by a 14-6 count. Tuesday, the Wolverines played twice and were outslugged 13-8 by Class 3A Harrisburg and 11-5 by Gaston.
Santiam already has doubled the win total of the 2023 squad and has scored 69 runs, an average of 8.6 per game. The Wolverines’ lone other loss was at undefeated and 4th-ranked Kennedy, the two-time defending OSAA Class 2A-1A champion.
Santiam baseball opens district play at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at East Linn Christian in Lebanon.
