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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (April 29, 2016)
PAGE A8, KEIZERTIMES, APRIL 29, 2016 PRICE SALES EVENT MAY 2, 2016 OFFER ENDS Keizer 3555 River Road N, Keizer • (503) 463- 4853 *All New Vehicles in stock Below Invoice Total! VISIT US AT skylineforddirect.com for your Custom E-Price Quote. *See Dealer for details. KEIZERTIMES.COM Celts rebound after tough losses By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes McNary High School’s var- sity baseball team had a rough start to its week April 19, en- during a 7-5 loss to South Sa- lem High School in the sev- enth inning. Fortunately, it did get better. “We had a good start and ended on a bad note against South, but we really bounced back and showed what we are made of deep inside by the end of the week,” said Celt Jo- siah Gilbert. In the South game, Mc- Nary’s Collin Young hit a three-RBI triple in the fi rst inning. Young crossed the plate on a hit by Trent Van Cleave that ended with the latter be- ing thrown out at fi rst. The Celts held on to that 4-0 lead, with Gilbert on the mound, for the next fi ve innings. In the top of the seventh, the wheels came off on the Keizer team. The Saxons took advantage of walks, errors and a struck batter to run up a 7-4 lead. McNary’s Matthew Is- may fi nally took over on the mound and allowed the team to make its last stand at the dish. Ismay scored the fi nal run of the game on an error by South, but that was all the Celts could Baseball camp April 30 The McNary High School baseball program is hosting a Future Celt- ics Camp Saturday, April 30, for students in fourth through eighth grade. The cost of the camp is $25 and registration can be completed on- site at the Celtic baseball fi eld. Check-in starts at noon and the camp runs from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. Campers should bring a glove and bat, if they have one, and wear a long sleeve shirt, sweats or baseball pants, a baseball hat and cleats. In the case of inclement weather, the camp will be held in the McNary gym and tennis shoes will be required. KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald Celt Collin Wentworth winds up a pitch in the game with Sprague High School Friday, April 22. Wentorth and fellow sophomore Carl Rumbaugh kept the Keizer team in the game long enough to pull out a 4-3 win. muster for the 7-5 fi nal. “We felt like we took a punch to the gut. It was hard to swallow, but we didn’t make the plays we needed to end that game,” said Larry Keeker, McNary head coach. Keeker said the team had a better game the next day, April 20, as McNary traveled to meet McMinnville High School. The contest resulted in another loss, 4-2, but McNary handled the Grizzlies’ pressure better. One McMinnville run in the fi rst and two more in the fourth gave the team a 3-0 head start. McNary notched a run in the top of the sixth when Matt Aguilar scored on a hit by Young, but McMinnville answered with one of its own in the bottom of the frame. McNary scored again in the top of the seventh when Josh- ua Benson scored on a double by Brendan Frizelle, but the next batter fl ied out to end the game. Please see CELTS, Page A Boys tennis hits winning combo at No. 1 doubles KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald McNary’s Jannicke Martin returns a volley in doubles competition during a match last week. Spirited Lady Celts fi nd success in small gains By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes Improvement is measured in inches, not miles, for most endeavors worth pursuing. Of course, knowing that doesn’t make it any easier to persevere through the tough times. Fortunately, the Lady Celts of the McNary High School varsity tennis team are working hard to approach recent struggles with the right attitude. “When we started the season, we had a lot of freshmen and a lot of seniors and there was an age gap, but we’ve grown into a nice little family,” said Celt Jannicke Martin, a foreign ex- change student from Hamburg, Germany. Senior Ivon Villasenor-Ortiz said the gains on the court are most evident in the moments that aren’t readily apparent to onlookers. “This is my fi rst year and, when I started, I had trouble hitting the ball back and forth across the net eight times, now I can do even more. But it’s because we’ve all improved that I’m able to do that,” Villasenor-Ortiz said. With only three weeks left in the season, Garrett Jensen, McNary head coach, is hoping to see more of the game strategy implemented on the court. “They’re getting to that point where they know they should be hitting the ball to the person at the net in a doubles defensive shot, but now it’s a matter of getting them to do it in a live game,” Jensen said. Sophomore Hannah Childress remains the team’s standout. After taking fourth in doubles at the state tournament last year, Childress has emerged as one of the more dominant singles players in the Greater Valley Conference. Childress is still working on building the confi dence she set out to establish at the be- ginning of the season, Jensen said. “She has a good offensive game, but we’re still working on getting her defensive game at the same level,” Jensen said. Of the newcomers to the sport this season, Jensen said Katherine Perez and Tayler Walker have shown some of the greatest improvement since the beginning of the season. “They’re playing doubles together for the team now and it’s been a complete turnaround for both of them since the fi rst day of the sea- son,” he said. Please see TENNIS, Page A10 By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes The McNary High School boys varsity tennis team is en- during one of those dreaded rebuilding years. In the Keizer team’s past three Greater Valley Confer- ence contests, the Celts have won only two matches, both of them in the No. 1 doubles slot. Senior Johnny Trinh and partner Mats Schiefer, a ju- nior, beat the top doubles teams from Sprague and South Salem high schools in recent weeks. Trinh and Schiefer beat the Olys in straight sets of 6-2 on Tuesday, April 19 and took down the Saxons with set scores of 6-4, 6-7 and 7-5 on Thursday, April 21. “It’s been good for them and it’s helped boost the mo- rale of the team,” said Lisa Reid, McNary head coach. While match wins are proving diffi cult for McNary, improvement has shown in other ways, Reid said. “Everybody is getting in more games than they did in the fi rst time around with the same teams,” Reid said. That effort was on display in the doubles matches of the West Salem contest. The teams of Adrien Valle and Alan Torres and Pablo Barrera and Izayah Hall both won at KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald Celt Johnny Trinh returns a volley in competition with Sprague High School. Trinh and his partner Mats Schiefer have won two of their fi rst three matches as a doubles team. least fi ve points. Abram Lep- resh and Adam Graneto won four. In singles competition, Chance Crosby put up a fi ght at No. 4 singles, but Titan Reid Morrison pulled out the win with set scores of 7-5 and 6-2. McNary lost some of its more seasoned players to graduation last year. This time around Trinh is the team’s only senior and rest of the varsity roster includes four juniors, two sophomores and three freshmen. Among the newcomers, Reid said Graneto is showing a lot of potential. “Adam has been out here really working hard and he’s been really fl exible playing singles and doubles. That’s hard to do for any player,” Reid said. “On the whole, they’ve kept their heads up even with the struggles and that will help them in the future, especially if they keep playing in the off-season.” Celt softball still tied for 3rd By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes The McNary High School varsity softball team was expected to face Sprague High School Friday, April 22, for third place heading into the last lap of the Greater Valley Conference. Unfortunately for the Lady Celts, a loss to McMinnville High School the game prior now has McNary and the Grizzlies tied for third with records of 5-3. “McMinnville was a tough loss for us, but the thing that kept us going was our team bond, which is outrageous this year,” said Celt Han- nah Carr. “Even during bad games, and no mat- ter the score or inning, we can rely on each other and none of us get down about the bad things.” The Celtics’ week started by fi nishing a game with McKay High School with a 24-0 win Monday, April 18. The next day, McNary jumped out to an early lead over South Salem High School and piled on as the game unfolded to win 13-2. Please see SOFTBALL, Page A10