PAGE A8, KEIZERTIMES, MAY 8, 2015
KEIZERTIMES.COM
Boys still top league
despite second loss
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
McNary High School’s var-
sity baseball team took a sec-
ond loss in the Greater Valley
Conference last week, but was
still at the top of the league
and ranked No. 7 in the state.
“We had nine hits and a lot
of fl y balls, but we couldn’t
string anything together,” said
senior Tim Hays of the 2-1
loss to North Salem High
School Tuesday, April 28.
If the game could be boiled
down to a single pivotal mo-
ment, it came early on.
“The fi rst inning was tough
because with two outs we had
bases loaded and I hit one to
right fi eld and it hit Tim on
the baseline. It was just totally
unlucky,” said Mathew Ismay, a
sophomore.
North scored two runs in
the bottom of the frame and
held onto the lead for the win.
“It was one of those games
we would wonder what hap-
pened if you were just looking
at the box scores, but it came
down to that fi rst inning,” said
Larry Keeker, McNary head
coach.
A game with West Salem
High School the next day
ended with a 1-0 win, thanks
to a solo home run by Hays in
the seventh inning.
“I’d already seen the pitcher
and he only threw a fastball
and slider. He hung out the
slider and I got hold of it,”
Hays said.
Keeker said the team had
been preparing for Hays to
sacrifi ce bunt if teammate
Connor Goff was able to get
on base. When that didn’t hap-
pen, Hays just let it rip.
“That was a pitcher’s duel
and Mickey Walker struck
Celts head to district matches
KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald
Celt Krissy Kelty returns a volley in competition Thursday, April 30. The girls and boys tennis
teams will begin pigtail rounds of the Greater Valley Conference district meet Thursday, May
14. McNary is expected to enter the tournament with the only undefeated doubles team in the
district, Sandy and Hannah Childress.
Lady Celts get revenge
on Bulldogs in 13-12 win
KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald
Josiah Gilbert winds up a pitch in the game with McKay High
School Tuesday, May 5.
out nine. Again, their guy did
a good job. He had a shutout
going all the way to the sev-
enth,” he said.
The Celtics’ fi nal game of
the week was a 6-0 win over
West Albany High School.
“Nick LaFountaine pitched
a complete game and allowed
no runs. We had a lot of of-
fense and the defense held up
behind them,” said Keeker.
McNary’s largest challenges
on the horizon will be Mc-
Minnville and South Salem
high schools. The Celts are
slated to host South Tuesday,
May 12. The Saxons are the
only team other than North
Salem to take a game off Mc-
Nary earlier this season. It was
a runaway 11-3 loss for the
Keizer team.
McMinnville (8-2) is the
second-place team in the
league and only one game be-
hind McNary. The Grizzlies
gave the Celtics (9-2) a run
for their money the fi rst time
around in a 4-3 win for the
McNary.
“A lot of times we score
runs early, and take a lead and
then have four or fi ve frames
in a row when we don’t
score at all. We have to focus
on pushing through a whole
game,” Ismay said.
Several Celts favored
for district track titles
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
In just his second year
as a track athlete, McNary
junior Antoine Wilder is well-
positioned to capture his fi rst
district title in the 110 hurdles.
“I was injured a lot this year,
but I’ve got a great coach and
he’s helped me be competitive
when I didn’t think I could,”
Wilder said.
Wilder set a new personal
record, 15.19 seconds, in the 110
hurdles in a meet with North
Salem High School Wednesday,
April 29. The time gave his the
top spot in the Greater Valley
Conference headed into the
district meet, which is slated to
begin Thursday, May 18.
Wilder is also part of the
top-ranked 4x400 team in the
GVC alongside teammates
Riley Moore, Brendan Van
Voorhis and Kyle Torres.
“We’re kind of taking it
one race at a time,” said Torres,
sidestepping the question as
to his own goals for the meet.
Torres is favored in every sprint
going into the meet, but said he’s
most keen to watch some of the
team’s underclassmen,.“There
are a bunch who have really
stepped up.”
On the girls side of the
district meet, Danielle Duran
has the top time in the 400
meter race, 60.97 seconds. The
Top-ranked Celtics headed into the GVC district meet
BOYS
GIRLS
100 METER
1 - Kyle Torres
2 - Brendan Van Voorhis
400 METER
1 - Danielle Duran
200 METER
1 - Kyle Torres
400 METER
1 - Kyle Torres
2 - Brendan Van Voorhis
110 HURDLES
1 - Antoine Wilder
300 HURDLES
2 - Antoine Wilder
4x100
1 - AJ Johnk
Brendan Van Voorhies
Riley Moore
Kyle Torres
4x400
1 - Antoine Wilder
Riley Moore
Brendan Van Voorhies
Kyle Torres
SHOT PUT
3 - Tevita Ma’ake
4x400 relay team of Sydney
Hunter, Kailey Doutt, Hali
Thurston and Danielle Duran
also has the top time in district.
McNary sophomore Alyssa
Looney has the top mark,
17-feet-and-one-half-inches, in
the long jump.
Looney said the record came
4x100
2 - Alyssa Looney
Courtney Geissinger
Sydney Hunter
Danielle Duran
4X400
1 - Sydney Hunter
Kailey Doutt
Hali Thurston
Danielle Duran
LONG JUMP
1 - Alyssa Looney
on something of a fl uke even
though she thinks she has a
repeat in her.
“I totally biffed that jump. I
came down and fell to the side
putting my hand on a rake,” she
said.
Looney has high hopes for
the 4x400 team, but thinks the
4x100 team, which she is a part
of, is fi nally coming together.
“We had some tough races
early in the season, but we are
getting to where we need to
be,” she said.
The 4x100 team has the
second-best time in the GVC,
50.87 seconds.
While McNary has several
Please see TRACK, Page A9
KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald
Celt Kinsey McNaught checks the call after sliding into second base in the game with North
Salem High School Tuesday, April 28.
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
The Lady Celts of the McNary High School
varsity softball team put together a barnburner of
a game against West Albany High School Friday,
May 1.
Starting down 6-0 after two innings, McNary
began clawing its way back with a run in the
third and fi ve more in the fourth frame. Senior
Kimi Ito blasted a three-run homer to knot it
up 6-6.
“We’ve tried to put it all out there without
holding back,” said Celt Nadia Witt.
After the Bulldogs took another lead with two
runs in the third, McNary took the lead for the
fi rst time in the sixth with four runs to make it
a 10-8 game.
“We’ve shortened up our swings and it helped
us see the ball better,” said Haley Ebner.
West was poised to take the game in the sev-
enth up 12-10, but McNary scored three in its
last at-bat to take the win 13-12.
“Up to that point in the season, West had only
allowed 26 runs for the season and we halved that
in one night. The thing about these girls is they
do not give up. Even down by six, they were still
unfazed,” said Kevin Wise, McNary head coach.
Earlier in the season, McNary had lost 4-1 to
the Bulldogs.
Ito and Kiana Villarreal both went 3-for-5
at the dish with three RBIs. Megan Ulrey, who
pitched a complete game with eight strikeouts
and one walk, went 2-for-4 alongside Ebner.
Madison Oliver, Ebner, Kinsey McNaught and
Ulrey all had doubles. Ebner was the leading
scorer with three runs.
The win put the team on a three-game streak
that included 48 runs for the week.
The run started with a 26-1 victory over
North Salem High School Tuesday, April 28, and
continued with a 9-7 win over West Salem High
School Wednesday, April 29.
“That’s a lot of offense with two good teams
in the mix,” Wise said. “The whole year we’ve
talked about putting the ball in play and that’s
what they did last week.”
The streak has also helped the team crawl
back up the rankings. It was fourth in the con-
ference, at press time, with the same record as
Please see SOFTBALL, Page A9