Keizertimes., April 29, 2016, Page PAGE A10, Image 10

PAGE A10, KEIZERTIMES, APRIL 29, 2016
SOFTBALL,
continued from Page A8
KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald
Celt Emma Kinler makes a play at left fi eld in the game with
South Salem High School.
CELTS,
continued from Page A8
“We had a couple of situa-
tions when we were a couple of
plays away from getting a vic-
tory in that game, but they just
didn’t pan out,” Keeker said.
Ismay had the best day at the
plate going 2-for-3. Starting
pitcher Evan Alger lasted four
innings with three earned runs
and three strikeouts.
On Friday, April 22, Mc-
Nary hosted the Sprague High
School Olympians and two
sophomore pitchers, Collin
Wentworth and Carl Rum-
baugh, kept the Celts in the
game on the mound long
enough to pull out a 4-3 win.
“It was a big game for both
of them especially with all the
emotions they had to be going
through,” said Gilbert. “They
did a great job and we backed
them up with only one error
on defense.”
Aguilar got things started
for McNary in the fi rst inning
with a double on the 12th pitch
of Celt’s fi rst at-bat. Aguilar
scored on a single by Ismay for
a 1-0 lead.
The Olys had a 2-1 lead by
the time McNary went on of-
fense in the fourth inning. In
that frame, Van Cleave scored
on a ground out by Tanner
Walker and Gilbert scored on a
single by Aguilar for a 3-2 Mc-
Nary lead.
Sprague knotted the game
3-3 in the top of the seventh,
but Gordon scored on a walk-
off double by Frizelle in the
bottom of the seventh to take
the win.
“At the end of the week, I
was proud of the kids for bat-
tling back and coming back to
get the win over Sprague. They
didn’t let the losses dictate how
they prepared or how they were
going to compete,” Keeker said.
Wentworth pitched two-
and-a-third innings with two
earned runs, two walks and two
strikeouts. Rumbaugh closed it
out with one earned run, one
walk and four strikeouts.
McNary had another three-
game week on tap and Gilbert
said the Celtics were focusing
on consistency.
“We’ve been very inconsis-
tent so far this year and right
now we’re trying to work on
getting more hits and hitting
the ball on the ground more
because we’re getting a lot of
fl y balls that go right to a fi eld-
er,” he said. “We want to get a
lot of hits to start each game so
we start ahead and then keep
piling them on. We want to be
able to ride the momentum of
the win over Sprague into this
week.”
The Celtics had an 8-0
lead on the Saxons headed
into the fi fth inning when
McNary made the most
of
fi elding troubles for a
fi ve runs. Sabella Alfaro got
things started by scoring on
a passed ball. A single by Na-
dia Witt, a hard grounder to
right fi eld, brought Kinsey
McNaught home. Haley Eb-
ner scored on a wild pitch,
Witt scored on a passed ball
and Emma Kinler hit a dou-
ble, scoring Madisen Oliver.
It was clutch time for the
Saxons in the bottom of the
inning, but the team mus-
tered only two runs – ending
the game after fi ve innings
under mercy rules. Witt end-
ed the game with four RBIs,
Faith Danner handled du-
ties in the circle with seven
but McNary took a lead in
the fourth inning it would
never relinquish en route to
an 11-9 win.
“In that game it was do-
or-die for us and we all had
the mindset of playing our
hearts out,” Carr said.
The Olys had a 3-0 lead
after half an inning, but Mc-
Nary answered with four of
its own. Oliver drove a two-
RBI single to center fi eld
and Kinler doubled later in
the inning, scoring Callista
Srofe and Carr.
Sprague took back the
lead in the second inning, but
Kinler scored on a passed ball
in the third to tie the game
5-5. In the top of the fourth,
Sprague added two runs,
but Carr blasted a three-run
homer over the center fi eld
wall in the bottom of the in-
ning to give McNary the fi -
nal lead.
Regardless of what the
future holds for the team,
Carr was nothing but upbeat
about the team’s potential.
“I love the talking on the
fi eld, and I feel like the more
we communicate and the
more we talk to each other
the stronger we get,” she said.
TENNIS,
continued from Page A8
Martin is hoping that the
team can realize more wins in
the waning weeks of the sea-
son, but is focused on enjoy-
ing what remains.
Villasenor-Ortiz’s shining
spirit seems likely enough to
carry anyone through a rough
patch.
“When I ask one of the
girls how they did, I don’t
want them to say, ‘I lost,’ I want
to know how they personally
did. I want them to be able to
tell me that they did their best
and that they tried their best
and they won by heart even
though they lost the match,”
Villasenor-Ortiz said.
KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald
Celt Matt Aguilar heads to fi rst as he turns the 12th pitch of his fi rst at-bat against Sprague High
School into a double.
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strikeouts.
“That was one of our bet-
ter games this year,” said Eb-
ner. “I think we were build-
ing off of each other really
well.”
On Wednesday, April 20,
the Grizzlies snapped the
Celtics’ three-game win
streak, doling out a 5-3 loss
to the Keizer team.
McMinnville took a 4-0
lead in the top of the third
with a three-run homer by
Payton Hudson. McNary
scored twice in the next in-
ning, on a RBI-single by
Carr and a sacrifi ce fl y by
Kinler. McMinnville padded
its lead with a run in the fi fth,
but the Celts only got one
more in the sixth.
“It was a tough loss but,
luckily, we get to play them
again,” Ebner said.
The contest with Sprague
two days later saw the teams
combine for a total of 27 hits,
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To learn how to create a brand new business,
savings, one-third goes to a charity of their choice
hundreds of Keizer and Salem kids have worked
and one-third goes into their pocket to spend how
hard to create lemonade stands.
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Local kids will be offering a wide variety of lemon-
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