PAGE A10, KEIZERTIMES, APRIL 8, 2016
KEIZERTIMES.COM
WMS coach wins contest, $5K
By CRAIG MURPHY
Of the Keizertimes
Scott Coburn fi gured the
odds were against him, but he
was going to enjoy the time
anyway.
Coburn, volleyball and
track coach at Whiteaker
Middle School, was one of
the three fi nalists for a Com-
cast SportsNet All-Star Coach
Program award. As such, Co-
burn and his family got to en-
joy the Portland Trail Blazers
game on April 2.
A diehard basketball fan,
enjoying free tickets to a game
with his family? How much
better could it get?
Well, winning the $5,000
prize would be one way to
make the evening perfect.
That’s just what happened
for Coburn.
Three Oregon coaches
were up for the award, with
three Washington coaches up
for a similar award. Coburn
was up against two track and
fi eld coaches from Portland
high schools.
“I was surprised to win,
since the other two were from
Portland,” Coburn said. “But
you can’t underestimate the
people of Keizer. It’s such a
wonderful place.”
Once fi nalists were an-
nounced, citizens were en-
couraged to vote for their
favorite
coach.
Coburn
emerged with the most votes.
Keizer City Councilor Ro-
land Herrera invited Coburn
to Monday’s council meeting
to be recognized.
“This one is
defi nitely a
highlight of
the 38 years.”
— Scott Coburn
“I’m really glad he was
chosen,” Herrera said. “Our
community stepped up and
recognized Mr. Coburn. He’s
been teaching for 24 years at
Whiteaker and has prepared
many young athletes.”
Coburn has been coaching
for 38 years. Over the years he
has taught basketball, track and
fi eld, volleyball and football at
fi ve high schools before com-
ing to Whiteaker. He was an
assistant boys basketball coach
at McNary High School for
14 years and has been head
girls volleyball coach at WMS
since 1993, racking up a 316-
64 record during that time, in-
cluding 14 undefeated teams.
He’s also been head coach for
track and fi eld at Whiteaker
since 2004.
“It’s an honor to repre-
sent this city,” said Coburn,
who was joined at the coun-
cil meeting by wife Laurie. “I
came to Keizer 24 years ago
and found a home I wanted to
stay in. It’s been fun. When my
vice principal nominated me
for the award, the school got
the word out on social media.
People do things here. I thank
them so much for the award
and the support.”
In that nomination, Co-
burn was lauded for his integ-
rity as a coach and teacher, for
being a role model to students
and fellow coaches alike, for
encouraging good sportsman-
ship and for inspiring students
to never give up.
Coburn also coordinates
an annual fundraiser at WMS
called Hoops For Heart,
which raises about $5,000 a
year for the American Heart
Association while teaching
students about heart health as
KEIZERTIMES/Craig Murphy
Whiteaker Middle School volleyball and track and fi eld coach Scott Coburn (second from right)
was feted at Monday’s Keizer City Council meeting by (from left) mayor Cathy Clark, youth
councilor and former WMS student Siri Scales and councilor Roland Herrera.
Celts take charge, beat
Newberg
in
baseball
Hot bats can’t overcome
Please see COBURN, Page A12
errors for the Lady Celts
By CRAIG MURPHY
Of the Keizertimes
Putting up the big numbers
hasn’t been a problem lately
for the McNary High School
varsity softball team.
In three games last week,
the Lady Celts scored 26 runs
on a total of 45 hits. That in-
cluded 13 runs and 21 hits
against Cleveland on March
29, six runs and 12 hits against
Sunset on March 30 and seven
runs with 12 hits against Cen-
tral Catholic on April 1.
However, MHS came away
with three losses to fall to 1-8
on the season. Not helping was
the continued issue of errors.
The Lady Celts notched fi ve
against Cleveland, four against
Sunset and three against Cen-
tral Catholic.
Things started off well
enough against Cleveland.
Nadia Witt singled and scored
on a double by Madisen Oli-
ver. Oliver later scored on
a single by Emma Kinler to
make it 2-0 in the fi rst inning.
The Lady Celts added two
more in the second frame to
make it 4-0.
After Cleveland closed to
within 4-3 in the third inning,
McNary stretched the lead
back to 7-3 in the top of the
fourth, only to have Cleveland
close back to within 7-6 in
the bottom of the frame.
Cleveland took its fi rst lead
with a six-run fi fth inning to
make it 12-7, but the Lady
Celts responded with six runs
of their own in the top of the
sixth to go back ahead 13-
12. The advantage was short-
lived, however, as Cleveland
scored fi ve more runs in the
bottom of the frame for the
17-13 fi nal score.
Leading the way for MHS
was Witt, who was 5-for-5
from the plate with four runs
and four RBIs.
The next day, Sunset quick-
ly jumped to a 3-0 lead in the
bottom of the fi rst inning.
The Lady Celts responded
with four runs in the second
and another in the third to go
ahead 5-3. After Sunset made
KEIZERTIMES/Craig Murphy
McNary’s Faith Danner fi res a pitch in varsity softball action
against North Salem on Tuesday, April 5.
it 5-4 in the fourth, MHS
scored in the top of the fi fth
to increase the gap to 6-4.
Sunset tied the game in
bottom of the frame, then
scored the two winning runs
in the bottom of the sixth for
the 8-6 win.
Kinsey McNaught went
3-for-5 with two RBIs for
MHS, while Haley Ebner
went 3-for-4 with a run.
In addition to the errors,
another problem for McNary
was runners being left on base.
MHS left 12 on base in the
loss to Cleveland, 11 against
Sunset and eight against Cen-
tral Catholic.
The Lady Celts spent much
of the game versus Central
Catholic playing catch up.
After MHS went up 2-0 in
the top of the fi rst, Central
Catholic exploded with eight
runs in the bottom of the
frame. The home team added
three more runs in the third to
make it 11-2.
McNary got three runs in
the fi fth, one in the sixth in-
ning and one more in the
seventh, but it wasn’t enough
in the 11-7 loss. Ebner once
again had a hot bat at the plate,
going 3-for-4 with a run and
an RBI. Oliver and Nicole
Duran added two RBIs each.
By HERB SWETT
For the Keizertimes
McNary High School
whipped Newberg 17-7 at
home April 1 to reach a win-
ning record for baseball pre-
season play.
The Celtics, who came in
at 3-3-1, overcame eight er-
rors to end the game after six
innings because of the mercy
rule. Matt Ismay was the win-
ning pitcher in relief and cut
the game short in the bottom
of the sixth by hitting a bases-
loaded triple.
The visiting Tigers scored
the fi rst two runs of the game
in the fi rst two innings. Mi-
chael Tarachkhyan led off the
fi rst by reaching fi rst base on
an error by third baseman
Trevor Gilbert. Tarachkhyan
advanced on a walk and a sto-
len base and scored on a sacri-
fi ce fl y by Jason Mauleon.
In the top of the second,
Mason Herring hit an in-
fi eld single, stole second base,
reached third on an error and
scored as a balk was called on
starting pitcher Collin Wen-
tworth. Ismay replaced Wen-
tworth with one out and re-
tired the next two batters.
McNary scored all the runs
it needed in its half of the sec-
ond. Gilbert and Collin Young
walked and pulled a double
steal after Trey Reohr, New-
berg’s starter, struck out Trent
Van Cleave. Daniel Johnson
walked and Whitworth, who
had moved to second base,
walked to force Gilbert home.
Tanner Gordon walked, forc-
ing Young home.
Marcus Dufour, who was
to become the losing pitcher,
replaced Reohr and made a
wild pitch that advanced Van
Cleave and Johnson. Both
then scored as Matt Aguilar
singled to center fi eld. Agui-
lar stole second and scored on
Brandon Frizelle’s double to
center. A bad throw by catcher
Dakota Hess moved Frizelle
to third.
Ismay drove Frizelle home
with a single to center. Gilbert
walked, and Ismay scored as an
error by fi rst baseman Herring
put Young on fi rst. Van Cleave
fl ew out to left, and the inning
ended with the Celtics leading
8-2.
KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald
Top: Tanner Gordon runs the bases in recent McNary baseball
action. Above: Collin Young makes a play at fi rst base.
Newberg fought back in
the third. Anthony Adams
went from the batter’s box to
second on a throwing error.
Mauleon scored him with a
single to center and went to
third on another throwing er-
ror. Reohr walked and stole
second, Marcus Dufour struck
out and Gilbert made a good
fi elding play for the Celts by
snaring a low line drive by
Herring. Errors then scored
Josh Butorac and Reohr, and
a wild pitch scored Jacob
Maiben. Herring was caught
in a rundown, and the score
was 8-7 in the middle of the
third.
The Celts responded with
a run in their half of the
third. Johnson and Whitworth
walked and Derek Maiben
came in to pitch. With one
out, Aguilar singled to left
center, scoring Johnson.
“It wasn’t a very clean
game,” McNary coach Lar-
ry Keeker said. “We weren’t
happy with our defense in
the fi rst three innings, but we
were with our offense.”
Four more McNary runs
came in the fourth. Gilbert
and Young walked and An-
thony Stigall took the mound.
Van Cleave hit a bunt single
to load the bases. Johnson
walked, forcing Gilbert home.
Josh Benson scored Young
by grounding out. Gordon
singled to center, driving in
Young. Another single to cen-
ter, by Gordon, drove in Van
Cleave and Johnson.
“I don’t think we’re having
the season start we’re hoping
for, but today we just came to
play,” Gilbert said.
In the Celtic sixth, Benson
reached fi rst on a force out
and went to third on a sin-
gle to left by Gordon. Agui-
lar singled and Frizelle drove
Benson home with an infi eld
single. With the bases loaded,
Ismay hit his triple.
In addition to his triple, Is-
may noted he settled down on
the mound.
“I threw more breaking
stuff, mixing it up,” he said.