PAGE A10, KEIZERTIMES, NOVEMBER 6, 2020
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Middle School sports approved for Season 1
months.
BY MATT RAWLINGS
“Biondi and I sat in on a
Of the Keizertimes
Even though there haven’t high school athletic directors
been any contests since March meeting with the goal of want-
due to COVID-19, many high ing to adjust their plan to the
school athletes in Salem-Keiz- middle school level,” Coburn
er Public Schools (SKPS) have said. “It was a process we went
been participating in off-season through to make sure we were
exactly where we needed to be.”
workouts since July.
Football, track & fi eld, volley-
Now, student-athletes at the
junior high level are able to ball, wrestling and cross country
return to their school’s athletic are the fi ve middle school sports
the district provides, but not all
facilities on a limited basis.
SKPS middle school athletes sports will be holding Season 1
workouts.
were approved last
White-
month to start
aker Middle
workouts
and “ This is all
School will
training during about making
be holding
Oregon Schools
workouts for
Activities Asso- contact with
cross
ciation’s (OSAA)
kids and having football,
country and
Season 1. Tuesday,
volleyball —
Oct. 27 was the them develop
additional
fi rst day mid-
sports will
dle school teams their skills.”
be offered at
could hold a
— Scott Coburn,
a later date.
modifi ed practice.
SKPS Middle School AD
Claggett
Scott Coburn,
Creek Mid-
who is the White-
aker Middle School 8th grade dle School elected to not begin
volleyball coach and middle their workouts until Nov. 30 —
school athletic director for the they plan to offer football, cross
district, worked alongside Mat- county, volleyball and wrestling.
Middle school teams will
thew Biondi, the SKPS middle
school director of education, to be operating under phase two
formulate a plan to have athletes guidance from the OSAA —
return to their school teams for which involves limiting sharing
the fi rst time in nearly nine of balls within pods, frequent
disinfecting of equipment and
maintaining social distancing.
All students will be required to
wear a mask in order to partic-
ipate.
“We aren’t going to make
mistakes. We’re going to keep
everyone safe,” Coburn said.
“Everything will be cleaned to
the best of our ability.”
Schools are permitted to
have one activity on campus per
day during the week, but can
choose to do less. For example,
last week Whiteaker Middle
School held workouts for three
days last week — football play-
ers practiced on Tuesday, vol-
leyball players met on Wednes-
day and cross country athletes
worked out on Thursday.
There is no cost for partic-
ipation in Season 1 activities.
Transportation, however, will
not be provided.
All athletes that are interest-
ed in participating are required
to complete the registration
process on FamilyID — which
can be found on each schools’
website.
“This is all about making
contact with kids and having
them develop their skills. We’re
not doing this to gain any kind
of competitive advantage. Right
now, it’s about care and connec-
tion,” Coburn said.
#11 Ryan Vogelsong
File
Whiteaker running back Marquis Jackson breaks away from defenders to pick up a fi rst down in
a middle school football game from last season.
TOP 20
20
USA Today Sports Images
Ryan Vogelsong played in the MLB for 12 seasons and won two World Series titles with the San
Francisco Giants.
BY MATT RAWLINGS
Of the Keizertimes
Ryan Vogelsong is #11 on
the Keizertimes list of the 20
greatest Volcanoes players of
all time. He was an All-Star in
2011 and won two World Se-
ries rings with the San Fran-
cisco Giants in 2012 and 2014.
Vogelsong was a three-
sport athlete at Octorara
High School in Atglen, PA.
He stayed in state to attend
college at Kutztown Univer-
sity, where he set nine school
records over the course of his
three-year career.
Vogelsong was drafted by
the Giants in the 5th round of
the 1998 Major League Base-
ball (MLB) Draft. He made
10 appearances for the Volca-
noes that season and was 6-1
with 66 strikeouts and a 1.77
ERA, helping Salem-Keizer
win their fi rst ever Northwest
League Title (NWL).
After spending two years in
the minors, Vogelsong made
his debut with the Giants on
Sept. 2, 2000. In his four relief
appearances with San Fran-
cisco, Vogelsong didn’t allow
a run to score in six innings
of work.
Vogelsong started the 2001
season with the Giants, but
struggled out of the bullpen.
After posting an 0-3 record
with 6.75 ERA, Vogelsong
was sent down to Triple-A.
On July 31, 2001, Vogelsong
was traded to the Pittsburgh
Pirates, but he only appeared
in two games for the Pirates
that year. He underwent Tom-
my John surgery, which kept
him out of baseball for all
2002 and most of 2003.
Vogelsong’s fi rst full sea-
son with the Pirates came in
2004. He mostly struggled as
a starter, going 6-13 with 6.50
ERA. But after being moved
to the bullpen in 2005, Vogel-
song experienced a little more
success, posting a 4.43 ERA in
44 appearances.
After his ERA ballooned
6.39 in 2006, Vogelsong de-
cided to switch gears and play
pro baseball in Japan, signing
with the Hanshin Tigers of
Nippon Professional Baseball
(NPB) in 2007. He played
for the Tigers for two years
and then pitched for the Orix
Buffaloes in 2009.
In 2010, Vogelsong re-
turned to the states and signed
a minor league contract with
the Philadelphia Phillies. He
went 2-5 with a 4.69 ERA in
58.2 innings for the Triple-A
Leigh Valley IronPigs before
being released on July 15,
2010.
Three days after being re-
leased, Vogelsong signed a mi-
nor league deal with the Los
Angeles Angels and appeared
in eight games in Triple-A for
the Salt Lake Bees. He record-
ed a 1-3 record and a 4.66
ERA in 36.2 innings and was
released after the season.
During the offseason Vo-
gelsong decided to play winter
ball in Venezuela for Tiburones
de La Guaira. He stated the
following year that his time
in Venezuela was the turning
point in recovering his career.
In 2011, Vogelsong returned
to the Giants and signed a mi-
nor league contract. He started
the season in Triple-A, but was
called up early in the season to
replace injured San Francisco
left-hander Barry Zito — it
was the fi rst time in fi ve years
that Vogelsong had been on a
MLB roster.
After making a pair of suc-
cessful relief appearances, Vo-
gelsong got his fi rst big league
start in seven years on April 28,
2011. Ironically, it was against
Pittsburgh, his former team.
In 5.2 innings of work, Vo-
gelsong struck out eight and
gave up just two runs on four
hits, leading the Giants to the
5-2 victory and earning his
fi rst MLB win since 2005.
Vogelsong continued to
fi nd success in the Giants
starting rotation, recording a
Volcanoes
players
of all time
6-1 record with a 2.17 ERA
in the fi rst half of the season.
After being cut by the Angels
the previous year, Vogelsong’s
performance in 2011 earned
him a trip to the All-Star
Game.
Vogelsong fi nished the sea-
son with a 13-7 record and
a 2.71 ERA, which was the
lowest on the team. He was
given the Willie Mac Award
— which is given annually in
honor of Giants legend Willie
McCovey to the Giants play-
er who best exemplifi es spirit
and leadership. Vogelsong was
also named the San Francisco
breakout player of the year by
MLB.com in 2011.
The Giants rewarded Vo-
gelsong in 2012 with a two-
year, $8.3 million contract.
Vogelsong proved that he
was worth the money as he
posted the lowest ERA in the
National League for the fi rst
half of the season (2.26). De-
spite his numbers, Vogelsong
was not selected to the 2012
All-Star Game — he was the
fi rst ERA leader to not make
the All-Star Game since 2001.
Vogelsong also had a streak
of 16 consecutive games
where he gave up three runs
or fewer.
Despite some below-av-
erage outings late in the sea-
son, Vogelsong still fi nished
the year with a career-high
of 14 wins and an ERA of
3.37. After his second straight
high-quality regular season in
San Francisco, Vogelsong be-
came a hero for the Giants in
the 2012 playoffs.
In game three of the Na-
tional League Division Series
(NLDS), with the Cincinnati
Reds holding a 2-0 lead over
the Giants in the best-of-
fi ve set, Vogelsong threw fi ve
clutch innings for San Fran-
cisco, holding the Reds to just
one run on three hits. The Gi-
ants went on to win the game
3-2, then won the following
two matchups to advance to
the National League Cham-
pionship Series against the St.
Louis Cardinals.
With the Cardinals up 1-0
in the best-of-seven series, Vo-
gelsong started game two of
the NLCS and shut down the
potent St. Louis offense. After
giving up a run in the top of
the second, Vogelsong threw
fi ve straight scoreless frames
as the Giants went on to win
game two 7-1.
However, St. Louis won
the next two contests to take
a commanding 3-1 series lead.
After the Giants won game
fi ve, Vogelsong took the hill in
game six with the season on
the line.
But in the face of elimina-
tion, Vogelsong was dominant
once again, giving up just one
run over seven innings and
striking out nine. The Gi-
ants won game six 6-1, then
won game seven the follow-
ing night to advance to their
second World Series in three
years.
The Giants faced off against
the Detroit Tigers in the 2012
World Series. After San Fran-
cisco won the fi rst two games,
Vogelsong got the start in
game three and put together
a masterful outing, throwing
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