PAGE A10, KEIZERTIMES, APRIL 3, 2015
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Boys golf will have to
work harder for repeat
KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald
McNary golfers Casey Potmesil, Teegan Papke, Adam Raschko, Sean McAllay and Brady Sparks
endured a pouring rain to practice Tuesday, March 31.
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
In 2014, the McNary High School boys var-
sity golf team won a league title. With an ex-
panded league this season, the Celts will have
to work that much harder.
“We knew, with West Albany added in the
league, it would be a challenge. We’ll be grind-
ing every week this year to keep up with them,”
said Brady Sparks, a McNary junior.
The Bulldogs beat out the Celts in the
fi rst league tournament of the season Mon-
day, March 30. But not by much. West Albany
turned in a team score of 320 and the Celtics
were 329. West Salem High School was nipping
at McNary’s heels with a 331.
“We wanted to be in the 320s, this is a team
that needs to be there, and we can build from
there as the season goes on,” said Rick Ward,
McNary head coach. “We have some work to
do, but we had some kids who played above
their averages in the league tournament. Sean
(McAllay) did really well under pressure.”
McAllay shot the best game for McNary,
a 77, in the league tournament. He was fol-
lowed by Sparks with an 80, Riley Hancock
and Teegan Papke with 86s, and Adam Raschko
with a 90. The squad is still trying to fi ll out its
junior varsity ranks, but Celt Casey Potmesil
was the medalist in the league’s JV tournament
with a 44.
“It feels good to start out close to where
we left off. If we get a couple guys down into
the high 80’s we will compete well all season,”
McAllay said.
Two weeks ago, McNary placed fi fth out of
12 teams in a Tualatin tournament that hosted
some of the state’s top teams.
“We’re not a state elite team yet, but we’re a
good team,” Ward said.
One of the ways McAllay, the only senior on
the squad, wants to see the team get even better
is by doing some team bonding.
“I’m trying to organize team breakfasts each
day we have a tournament,” he said. “All I can
do is encourage them is to get out and play
even in terrible weather. Brady and Adam have
been here since before me and I’ve got good
guys to back me up,”
KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald
Celt Nick LaFountaine fi res off a pitch in a preseason game two weeks ago. LaFountaine’s work
on the mound proved pivotal in a game during the McNary varsity baseball team’s trip to Arizona.
Arizona opponents
prove tougher than
Lady Celts go toe-to-toe expected for Celts
Please see GOLF, Page A11
with Oregon’s top team
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
Despite walking away from
a spring break tournament at
Jesuit High School without
a win, the Lady Celt varsity
softball team took one moral
victory.
The McNary High School
team went toe-to-toe with the
Westview High School Wild-
cats, the No. 1 ranked team in
the state. The girls lost 13-11.
“We outhit them 16-10
and against a pitcher who
moves the ball around well.
Westview’s coach came up
afterward and said she’d never
seen any team hit like that,”
said Kevin Wise, McNary
head coach.
Throughout the tourna-
ment, the team never lacked
offense. The girls notched 32
runs in three games. A fourth
game was called in the second
inning due to rain.
“We attacked the ball in
the fi rst inning, and we scored
in the fi rst inning in every
game,” said Lady Celt Madi-
son Oliver.
Wise said he knew the
offense was coming, but he
didn’t expect the team to un-
load this early on.
“This tournament, we
By ERIC A. HOWALD
kind of showed us where we
Of the Keizertimes
want and need to be,” said
Well, the team bonding McNary senior Matt Aguilar.
was good.
The team fared quite a
The McNary High School bit better in its second game.
varsity baseball team’s time on The Celtics had a 6-0 lead
the fi eld in Arizona during over Liberty High School, of
spring break left a bit more to Colorado, at the top of the
be desired.
third inning when the wheels
“We had a disappointing came off. Liberty knotted up
fi rst day and that led to other the game in the bottom of the
problems,” said Larry Keeker, frame and went on to win the
McNary head coach.
whole thing 10-7.
M c N a r y ’s
“The com-
fi rst team out-
petition level
of-the-gate on
was solid, but
a trip to spring
we defi nitely
training in Ari-
didn’t play to
zona was Col-
the standard
orado’s High-
we know we
lands Ranch
can,” said Celt
High School,
Jacob Vasas.
one of the bet-
Aguilar
ter high school
led the team
teams of the
with two runs
nation.
scored. Evan
“Just watch-
Alger, Trevor
ing them warm
Gilbert, Mick-
up we could
ey
Walker,
tell they were
— Matt Aguilar Tim Hays and
good, but we
Kevin Martin
didn’t play very
all scored one
well. We were in vacation run each.
mode and didn’t do the things
“We gave that game away
we needed to do to prepare on errors and it made it more
that day,” Keeker said.
disappointing than the fi rst
The Falcons put seven runs one,” Keeker said.
on the board in the fi rst in-
Despite the loss, it was a
ning, one in third and three in turnaround for the Keizer
the fi fth, taking an 11-0 win.
team at the dish.
“All of the teams we played
“The middle of the line-
had good fundamentals and it up started producing and that
“The
competition
level was
solid, but we
didn’t play to
the standard
we know we
can.
KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald
McNary’s Kinsey McNaught, who is batting better than .600
for the season, makes a throw from the outfi eld in a game two
weeks ago.
started fi nding those holes
from the plate,” he said.
Every player in the line-
up had at least one hit in the
Westview game. Nadia Witt
had two doubles, Oliver, Kelsi
Christenson, Haley Ebner,
Hanna Carr and Megan Ul-
rey each had one. Sophomore
Nicole Duran hit a home run.
Carr had four RBIs.
Please see CELTS, Page A11
allowed the guys at the front
and back to score,” Vasas said.
Following a third loss, 4-3
to Pueblo West High School,
Celt Nick LaFountaine put
on the performance of the
Celts’ tournament in a game
with Colorado’s Valley Vista
High School.
“Nick got pulled in the
fi rst inning of the game with
Highlands Ranch and then
came back to start for us
against Valley Vista. He gave
up a home run in the third,
but he kept us in that game
and gave us a chance to be
competitive,” Keeker said.
Valley Vista never scored
more than two runs in an in-
ning, but McNary was too far
behind (5-0) to catch up.
While the boys didn’t fi nd
success on the fi eld, Aguilar
said it was the off-the-fi eld
moments that made the big-
gest difference.
“The whole trip was a suc-
cess because we bonded as a
team better even though we
didn’t win our games,” he said.
“I got to know some of the
guys better than I had, and
we grew more as team than
we would have if we’d hung
around Keizer.”
Between games, the Celts
visited a water park, played
mini-golf, toured the San
Francisco Giants’ practice fa-
cility and had many meals to-
gether as a team.