PAGE B4, KEIZERTIMES, MARCH 10, 2017
Celtics return senior arms,
ready to compete for GVC
By DEREK WILEY
Of the Keizertimes
McNary head baseball
coach Larry Keeker expects
the Celts to compete for the
Greater Valley Conference
title in 2017.
But there are question
marks, particularly at pitcher.
While senior Josiah Gil-
bert, who was a First Team all-
league selection after going
6-3 with a 3.94 ERA and 65
strikeouts in 2016, will start
the season as McNary’s ace,
the rest of the pitching staff is
unproven.
“In terms of just talent, this
team certainly has the chance
to be a league champion,”
Keeker said. “Really the ques-
tion is going to be how well
we pitch. Even Josiah, even
though he’s proven, he has to
come back and have a good
senior year and then it de-
pends on the rest of the staff.
We’re going to need to be
able to pitch.”
Two seniors, Riley Hays
and Kevin Martin, both
missed their junior seasons
with shoulder injuries. But
Hays was at least able to re-
turn and pitch in the summer.
Kyle McCallister, Matthew
Ismay, Jonah Geist and Carl
Rumbaugh could also eat up
innings for the Celtics.
“There’s still some de-
bate on who the three game
a week starters would be but
Josiah’s going to be one of
them and after that it’s re-
ally still to be determined,”
Keeker said. “We try to de-
velop as many pitchers as we
can. We keep guys throwing
in the gym or in the summers
as much as possible because if
you don’t have that depth, you
get to those games that are
backed up, you could be go-
ing fi ve, six, seven guys deep
in a week.”
While senior Daniel John-
son caught nearly every game
last season, Keeker said soph-
omore Tyler Covalt’s bat may
be too good to keep out of
the lineup.
“He’s (Covalt) a really
good baseball kid,” Keeker
said. “He hasn’t proven him-
self as a varsity hitter yet be-
cause he hasn’t played varsity
but he had a good summer.
He’s only a sophomore but
he’s certainly going to get his
opportunities. If we feel both
of those guys need to be in
the lineup, the nice thing is
Daniel has proven in the past
that he can play an infi eld po-
sition as well.”
Johnson isn’t the only
player who will give Keeker
fl exibility when making the
lineup. While Brendan Fri-
zelle is back in centerfi eld
and Josh Benson and Collin
Wentworth are expected to
man the middle infi eld at sec-
ond base and shortstop, every
other position is up for grabs.
When they’re not pitching,
Gilbert could play at third or
in the outfi eld while Ismay,
who led the Celtics with 21
RBI and a .400 batting aver-
age last season, could start at
either corner infi eld positions.
“There’s 16 kids on varsity
and lots of interchangeable
parts this spring,” Keeker said.
“I think it’s a great dilemma
to have because it gives us
options. Sometimes it’s hard
to get in a rhythm because
maybe you don’t know where
you’re going to play on a reg-
ular basis but guys are just go-
ing to be fl exible this spring.
That’s just the way it is. Even-
tually, they’ll settle in. We’ll
fi gure out a rhythm and it will
come down to who can hit,
who can make plays.”
Keeker expects the GVC
to be competitive, with
Sprague, returning almost its
entire lineup, and West Albany,
bringing back all three of its
top pitchers, as the favorites.
McNary opens the regular
season Wednesday, March 15
at home against Canby.
First pitch is 4:30 p.m.
File
Top: Collin Wentworth is ex-
pected to start the season at
shortstop. Bottom: Riley Hays
is returning to the mound af-
ter shoulder surgery cost him
his junior season.
File
McNary senior Brendan Frizelle is back in centerfi eld for the
Celtics in 2017.
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