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History of North Salem High School Baseball
104 Proud Years
North Salem Baseball got off to a great start in its inaugural season as the “Salem Nine” beat both the University of Oregon and Willamette University during the spring of 1905. This is even more incredible considering that North Salem High School didn’t have any juniors or seniors that first year. This is why we like to say “Tradition Doesn’t Graduate” from North Salem Baseball. 2008 will be the 104th year of baseball at North Salem High School and we are working for it to be as memorable as our first.
In the sixties, and earlier probably, the big schools in the state were in the A-1 category, with eight leagues. In baseball, as in football, only the league champion (or number 1 seed if there were league co-champions) advanced to the state playoffs. North Salem dominated the Valley League in the sixties, winning six titles. The Vikings advanced to the championship game twice, winning in 1967. Don Schaefer was the coach for the entire decade. The run of titles ended in 1967, and the Vikings didn’t make it back to the state playoffs again until 1984.
By that time, the OSAA had expanded the playoffs to include two teams from each league in the AAA classification. There were ten leagues for a while, then nine, so a pigtail round was added and the state playoffs would begin with 18 or 20 teams. During this period, the Valley League sent the league champion as the number one seed and had an internal league playoff to determine the number two seed. If two teams tied for the championship, the teams played off for the number one and two seed, and all other teams dropped out. If there was a single champion, the fourth place team played the third place team at the home of the third place team. The winner of that game would play the second place team to determine the number two seed.
During that period North Salem often played in the league playoffs and occasionally played in the state playoffs. The most memorable run was in 1984 when the Vikings were co-champions with McNary, lost a playoff to the Celtics, and entered the playoffs as the number two seed. They beat Oregon City in a pigtail game, beat Benson next, and after a series of rain outs and lost to David Douglas in the quarterfinals.
Sometime later, the OSAA expanded the AAAA playoffs to 36 teams; generally four from each league. North made it to the semifinals in 1998, and also made the playoffs in 1999; Al Zeek’s last year at the helm.
Under Chris Lee, the Vikings made the quarterfinals in 2000 losing to Medford in a close battle. They also won league championships in 2001, 2004 and 2006.
Viking Coaches:
1961-1972 Don Schaefer
1973 Millard Bates
1974-1976 Denny Schweitzer
1977-1999 Alan Zeek
2000-Present Chris Lee
As always, this is a working document. If you have any more information on the history of North Salem Baseball, contact Chris Lee at North Salem High School. He can be reached at 503-399-3241 ext. #313 or lee_chris@salkeiz.k12.or.us
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