From South Salem standout to Oregon State's closer: How Ryan Brown rose to the occasion

Ryan Brown didn't expect it to happen so soon in his baseball career, but it did.

As Brown jogged toward the dugout from the visiting bullpen during a game at Oregon, he was surprised when a young boy sporting Oregon State's orange and black asked him if he would autograph his bat.

It was the first time Brown had ever been asked for his autograph in college. Brown told the boy standing at the wall with his bat in one hand and glove in the other "after the game" as he made his way down the third-base line and into the dugout.

The same brown-haired boy would return later in the game — while Brown was in the bullpen — with a new offer.

Not long ago, Brown was asking for his favorite ballplayers' autographs at Oregon State baseball games. His meteoric rise as a player on the Beavers' roster would come a few years later.

"The first Oregon State player that I remember getting an autograph from was during my freshman year of high school," Brown said. "I went to a game and had never seen this guy before, so I asked him for one. Sure enough, it's (starting shortstop) Cadyn Grenier."

Brown dreamed of one day playing baseball at Oregon State while cementing his talent as a basketball and baseball player with the South Salem Saxons, where he graduated in 2019.

Now, he's seeing years of hard work pay off, including as the closer for the Beavers, 40-10 overall, and at the top of the Pac-12, which has catapulted his presence.

"I would literally have visions of me pitching against Oregon," Brown said. "What better place would I rather be in than a two-run ball game in an Oregon and Oregon State rivalry with a packed PK Park. That's what I've always wanted. I wanted that energy, I wanted that high output and being able to do it twice has been a blessing."

You have to rewind to Brown's preteen years when he paid $20 on Thursdays to attend OSU youth baseball camps to see how he got to that moment.

While he was there, he got to talk to legendary head baseball coach Pat Casey and run drills with notable players such as outfielder Kyle Nobach and infielder Kavin Keyes.

"Pat Casey was like 'you know, one day, you should come be a Beaver and play baseball,'" Brown said. "I was like 'That's the dream.' Thinking it wouldn't be realistic."

Build up to Saxons' success

Brown, a transfer from Stayton, initially donned the Saxons Columbia blue and scarlet colored uniform as a sophomore, playing basketball on JV until midway through the season when he made the leap to varsity as the starting forward.

But his forte was a power hitter and starting pitcher at South Salem. In four varsity seasons (one at Stayton), Brown earned Mountain Valley Conference first-team honors and second-team all-state selection.

As a senior, Brown had a 7-0 record and 2.22 ERA, with 69 strikeouts and seven walks. At the plate, he hit .354, with a .430 on-base percentage, eight doubles, six home runs, 24 RBIs and 12 stolen bases.

He helped lead the Saxons to the OSAA 6A state semifinals in both his junior and senior seasons.

"He always had that fresh air of confidence," Max Price, South Salem's head coach, said. "Just the thought that no situation or scenario was too big for him. No matter what the problem in front of him was, he'd find a way to solve it."

As a four-year starting pitcher, no one on the 2019 team expected Brown to accomplish what he did during a round two playoff game that stretched nine innings.

Brown, who came out of the bullpen in the seventh, held West Salem scoreless in the eighth and ninth innings.

"When he threw that first pitch it was a collective sigh of relief from everyone in our program," Price said. "We were all like 'Oh my gosh, we're going to win this game.'

"But for me, that moment was really special because we had asked him to do something that he had never done before."

Looking back, Brown said he didn't think his role as a closer would extend much further, imagining his future roles as either a starting pitcher or long reliever.

"I guess it did leave a mark on me," he said. "Because it made me really think that being a closer is something that I actually enjoy doing."

A dream larger than the major leagues

While Brown was blowing the competition out of the water, he received news that every high school athlete can only dream of — getting drafted by the New York Yankees.

Brown was selected by the Yankees in the 26th round of the Major League Baseball draft. His own plans were to be a walk on with Oregon State before he was offered a scholarship that same month.

He only had three days to decide whether he wanted to forgo his chance at professional baseball or fulfill his college aspirations.

"I was just not ready to leave," Brown said. "After the Yankees drafted me, I told them 'I really want to go to college, I really want to play at Goss Stadium, and do all the things I dreamed of as a kid.' So I just couldn't let myself go into baseball without playing at Oregon State."

Becoming the first in his family to attend college among his parents (Chris and Shannan Brown) and older brother, Brett, made it a "relatively easy decision."

In the fall of 2019, Brown imagined his true freshman season at OSU would be everything he'd dreamed of until the COVID-19 pandemic changed it all.

Brown made just three appearances during the Beavers' 2020 campaign which lasted 14 games before the remainder of the season was canceled. During the team's final game on March 8, Brown — who allowed two unearned runs — suffered the first loss of his collegiate career.

Despite not having a season, Brown tried to make the most of it. He bought dumbbells off of Facebook Marketplace and used them to work out on his front porch while gyms were closed. He also played catch on his street with a best friend from high school when public parks and OSU were closed.

"There wasn't a whole lot I could do," Brown said. "So it (the virus) took two years of the game away from me, and that really affected me mentally and physically."

He wouldn't play in another college ballgame for two years.

Introspection and opportunity

The 2021 season was difficult for Brown.

Not many people had heard of him at that point, and even fewer people knew that he was dealing with a back injury.

"I kept it to myself for a long time," Brown said. "But it got to a point where I could barely sit in my chair for longer than 20 minutes before I needed to go lay down."

Even after he recouped from his injury, Brown knew his body was not ready for the training of a full season.

A crucial piece in his development came last summer while playing for the Medford Rogues and then-assistant coach Braden Wells, who was recently named as OSU's mental skills and academic coach.

"He (Wells) helped a lot with my mental game," Brown said. "I had the physical ability, but I don't think I ever had the mental aspect."

Oregon State's pitching coach Rich Dorman said he noticed Brown's talent almost instantly.

"I wanted him to go out and start," Dorman said. "Then he went out, started, and was just doing OK. Then eventually they started using him as a closer, and it was almost like he latched on to that type of role."

Brown pitched as a reliever and middle reliever in his first three games for the Beavers' 2022 season, securing his first collegiate win on Feb. 24, when he pitched two innings against Xavier. Seven games later, on March 27 against Cal, he would earn his second recorded victory.

The 6-foot-2, 214 pounder wouldn't get his first taste as a closer until the Nevada series when he recorded his first-ever back-to-back saves, followed by his extra-inning appearance over Stanford.

"I gave them (Stanford) so much respect that I almost looked at them as if they were higher than us," Brown said. "Like how am I going to compete with these guys, but we ended up winning that game.

"From that point, I thought nobody deserves more respect than I give myself and I think that was the turning point. I was like 'if I can do that against Stanford, why can't I do that against any team in the nation?' I have to have that mindset and confidence."

A breakout star

The right-handed pitcher has led the Pac-12 conference with nine saves as the closer for Oregon State this season.

"Saves are just numbers at the end of the day," Brown said. "Being able to close it out for my teammates is something that I'm very proud of."

Brown also owns a 4-0 record in 26 innings across 23 appearances and has allowed just two runs in his last 13 games.

"I learned how to pitch with passion," Brown said when asked what has been new for him so far this season.

As of May 14, Oregon State has climbed to the No. 1 spot in the Division I rankings, ahead of Tennessee, according to Baseballamerica.com and the NCAA coaches poll. The team also holds a No. 2 spot, according to D1baseball.com.

With those stats, the Oregon State baseball team could make a strong push in the NCAA baseball postseason and even repeat its championship tradition of winning the College World Series, which they most recently did in 2018.

Off the field impact

Brown, who was considered a redshirt freshman under NCAA baseball eligibility rules, is on pace to graduate next spring with a degree in Sociology.

"I'm proud of myself for dedicating four years to a degree," Brown said. "Being a first-generation college student, I really wanted to walk out of this with a college degree."

But before Brown's days of wearing Oregon State's orange and black uniforms are done, he's got plenty of unfinished business on the mound.

Later in the game against Oregon, the young boy with his bat approached Brown again.

"He tried to trade me a hot dog for a baseball later in the game," Brown said. "But I just ended up giving him a baseball."

Edith Noriega is a sports reporter for the Statesman Journal. You may reach her at ENoriega@salem.gannett.com and follow her on Twitter at @Noriega_Edith.

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Ryan Brown is the closer for the Oregon State baseball team