This is part of a weekly series where we introduce readers to individuals who are passionate about serving our Mid-Valley community.
Since Max Price took over as head coach of South Salem baseball in 2017, the Saxons have established themselves as one of the more consistent and explosive baseball teams in the state.
Last year, the Saxons reached the semifinals of the 6A state championship, led Oregon’s top classification with 275 runs and had six players named to the All-State team. South Salem also made the semifinals in 2018 and 2019.
If you ask Price, the key to his program’s recent success is quite simple.
“When the kids come to our practices, I think they have fun,” Price said. “I think you’ll see a lot of guys smiling and having fun.”
Price, a Salem native who also teaches language arts at South Salem, has been celebrated for his work on the baseball field as well as in the classroom. Immediately following the Saxons’ victory over McNary in the second round of the state playoffs last season, Price rushed from Gilmore Field to the Salem Convention Center to attend the 25th annual Crystal Apple Awards.
Price was one of 12 local educators honored for “exceeding the expectations of their profession, inspiring students and engaging the community in their work.” Fittingly, he accepted the award while still wearing his baseball uniform.
“I think I live three miles from the house I grew up in,” Price said. “I haven’t really gotten far from where I grew up, but I just love the kids here. Every group I’ve been in has been unique and different, but great. I think I’ve been pretty lucky in my life to be here.”
From North to South
Price is a graduate of North Salem University and fell in love with the sport of baseball while playing under renowned former Vikings coach Chris Lee.
He continued playing at Pacific University and returned to North in 2014 as a teacher and assistant coach on Lee’s staff. When the head coaching position at South Salem opened up in 2016, Lee encouraged Price to apply. Less than a week later, however, Price called South Salem athletic director Brian Armstrong and withdrew from the coaching search.
Price was 27 at the time and felt he still had a lot to learn. Armstrong said that was fine, but insisted they meet for coffee. The next day, they agreed that Price would be the Saxons’ next head coach.
“North Salem was my baseball family and it has been for most of my life,” Price said. “(Armstrong) kind of guided me through the job and at the end it dawned on me – if not now, when will I be a head coach? He just helped me make what I knew deep down was the right decision.”
So the following year, Price taught mornings and afternoons at North and then drove across town each day.
“I was also the activities director, so I was really involved at North Salem,” Price recalled. “Then it was 2:30 p.m. and I rushed to my car to drive to Gilmore Field, put on the Saxons gear and practice there. Then the next morning I put on my North Salem gear.”
Success in South Salem
A mixture of modern analytics and traditional principles has helped numerous Saxons advance to higher education and professional levels.
Former South Salem star Aaron Zavala was named Pac-12 Player of the Year during his junior season at Oregon and was selected in the second round of the 2021 Major League Baseball Draft by the Texas Rangers. Ryan Brown, an all-conference closer at Oregon State, was selected in the 16th round by the Oakland Athletics last summer.
However, Price does not want to take credit for the continued success of his former players and admits that an athlete’s talent and work ethic are the most important indicators of future success.
However, he believes he and his coaching staff can help nurture those natural gifts – often through a somewhat unconventional approach.
During his first offseason with the Saxons, Price logged every defensive play his team played that spring. He concluded that it wasn’t particularly efficient to spend a large portion of practice hours on team-centered defensive work — bunt defense, first-and-third defense, “21 outs”-style drills.
“You could look at, ‘Okay, how many times has a team made a sacrifice bunt with a runner on first base and less than two outs? It was less than any of the plate appearances we’ve seen,’ Price said. “How many times has a kid hit a regular ground ball? OK, 7% of the time. How many times has a ball been hit to the backhand side of our second baseman? OK, 3% of the time. … You can come up with some rough numbers of how many times each play occurs in a game and then go back and think about your drills.
“If only 0.7% of the opposing plays were sacrifice bunts, why should I spend 10 or 15 minutes of every single practice working on bunt defense?”
Price and his team therefore want to dedicate as much time and resources as possible to helping players improve their individual skills and become better athletes. They believe that when players are having fun and constantly improving, they are more engaged in practice, and that usually correlates with team success over the course of a season.
“Our guys have a lot of fun playing baseball and I think a lot of that is because we don’t spend practice doing boring stuff,” Price said. “Bunting is really boring. First-and-third is really boring and doesn’t necessarily make you a better individual player and it doesn’t make our team any better.”
“So if we can simplify all of that as much as possible and then spend our practice time doing things that you actually feel like you’re getting better at, that’s going to help you achieve your personal goals in baseball. Whether that means playing in college, making the roster or just being on the team. It’s a win-win for everyone.”
If you have an idea for someone we should profile in this series, please email Statesman Journal Editor-in-Chief Cherrill Crosby at [email protected].
Jarrid Denney covers high school sports and Oregon State for the Statesman Journal. He can be reached at [email protected] or at X @jarrid_denney
