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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (March 18, 2016)
MARCH 18, 2016, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE B3 Celt baseball team ready for sunshine By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes In 2015, the McNary High School varsity baseball team made it all the way to the second round of the state playoffs before getting ousted by Sheldon High School. Repeating that feat will mean the Celtics will have to answer one big question early on: who will be the go-to players on the mound? “The pitching is our biggest question mark. We have lots of kids that pitch, but we don’t have the experience factor with a lot of var- sity innings,” said Larry Keeker, McNary head coach. Josiah Gilbert, a 6-foot-3 junior, will be the Celitc’s No. 1, but it remains to be seen who will step up behind him. “The problem is we don’t know how the kids are going to respond to a live game situa- tion yet,” Keeker said. Making matters worse is that the team has had limited opportunity to play on an actual fi eld in the weeks leading up to the start of the season. Drenching rains have kept the team mostly confi ned to the gym for practices. New Grade-A Windows Lifetime Warranty Lowest Price In Town B M B C “We’re defi nitely ready to see some sun,” said Celt Collin Young, a senior fi rst baseman. “But we’ve really focused on the fundamentals in the gym, breaking each step of every action down from swings to throws, but everything changes in a live game.” The Celts were scheduled to face Cleveland High School in their fi rst game of the season Monday, March 14, but it was postponed due to downpours. The team’s fi rst home game after returning from spring break will be Wednesday, March 30, vs. Oregon City High School. While the preseason games are, in part, a time to shake off the dust, they can also become a factor late in the season when rankings dictate which teams face each other and where. “We defi nitely want to win those games, but we need to keep everyone healthy because it’s a long season,” said senior shortstop Matt Agui- lar. Aguilar is already committed to continuing his baseball career at Lane Community College next fall. In addition to Young and Aguilar, senior re- turners include Evan Alger, Davis Kaiser, Tan- Retro Fit For Replacement Huge Selection In Stock Special Orders Available BUILDING MATERIALS BARGAIN CENTER, INC. 775 FRONT STREET NE - SALEM - CALL US AT 503-363-9070 File Celt Josiah Gilbert will return for his junior season as the Celtic’s No. 1 pitcher on the mound. McNary fi nished second in the Greater Valley Conference in 2015. ner Gordon, Isaiah Holt, Trevor Gilbert, Matt Koopman, and Trent Van Cleave, who is return- ing to the sport after two seasons away. “It’s a solid group of seniors and we’ve got some good talent in the junior class along with a couple of players from the sophomore class,” Keeker said. Taking the temperature of the team on de- fense has been diffi cult in gym practices, but Keeker said the team’s offense was holding its own. “We’ll have some speed at the top of the line-up and some good hitters in the middle,” he said. While the Celtics have fi nished among the top teams in the Greater Valley Conference in recent seasons, Aguilar said the team was gun- ning for a league championship this year. “We haven’t won the conference since 1999 and we want to hang another banner,” he said. BOOK YOUR ESCAPE ESC Paris Spa Week: May 2 - 6 While receiving your mammogram and/ or DEXA (bone mineral density) examination, we will be offering a complimentary Paris Themed gift bag, herbal teas, & refreshments. PLUS, a complimentary massage after your exam from Amenities we always provide our patients undergoing mammography: Soft foam mammogram pads Plush Terry Cloth Robes Digital Mammography with Computer-Aided Detection SCHEDULE TODAY CALL 503.588.2674 1165 Union St. NE #100 – Salem www.salemspaweek.com
