APRIL 6, 2018, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE B1
KEIZERTIMES.COM
Lady Celts win league opener
By DEREK WILEY
Of the Keizertimes
Faith Danner kept McNary
in the game early with her
arm.
She started the comeback
with her bat as the Lady Celts
defeated Forest Grove 7-5
on Tuesday, April 3 to open
Greater Valley Conference
play.
Danner needed only 38
pitches to get through the fi rst
fi ve innings as McNary went
to the sixth with a 4-1 lead.
“They were attacking the
fi rst pitch and I saw that so I
was throwing it on the cor-
ners and they were swinging,”
Danner said. “I trust my de-
fense and I knew they would
fi eld it.”
Danner drove in McNary’s
fi rst run of the game on a sin-
gle in the bottom of the sec-
ond to score Taylor Ebbs. Kate
Ronning then scored on an
error to give the Lady Celts a
2-0 lead.
McNary added two more
runs in the fi fth inning. After
Haley Ebner hit a sacrifi ce fl y
to right fi eld to bring home
Nadia Witt, Emma Kinler sin-
gled to left fi eld to score Alexa
Cepeda, who celebrated her
birthday after the game.
But Forest Grove answered
with four runs in the top of
the sixth on three singles, a hit
by pitch and infi eld error to
take a 5-4 lead.
Wanting to set the tone for
the inning, Danner led off the
bottom of the sixth with a
double on a line drive to the
center fi eld fence.
ATHLETE
of the Week
presented by
Nadia Witt
McNary High School senior
McNary center fi elder Nadia Witt was 2-for-4 with
a double, stolen base and two runs scored as the
Lady Celts opened league play with a 7-5 win over
Forest Grove on Tuesday, April 3.
Witt also went 9-for-15 with nine runs scored, seven
RBIs, three doubles, two triples, a home run and
two stolen bases during a spring break tournament
at West Linn on March 26-27.
“It was on the outside cor-
ner,” Danner said of the pitch.
“It was kind of a fatty pitch to
hit. I saw it and knew it was
my pitch to hit.”
Haley Bingenheimer fol-
lowed with an RBI single,
driving home pinch runner
Abbi Covalt to tie the game at
5-5. After Nadia Witt doubled,
Bingenheimer then scored the
go-ahead run on a dropped
third strike. Ebner then gave
McNary an insurance run
with a sacrifi ce fl y to right
fi eld, scoring Witt from third.
“These guys are just a calm
team,” McNary head coach
Kevin Wise said. “We fi gured
out they were playing way
back on the fence and we just
started poking a little bit and
fi nding the spots. I thought
they did a really good job with
that.”
Forest Grove singled to lead
off the seventh but Danner re-
tired the next three hitters to
fi nish off the Vikings.
Please see DANNER, Page B4
KEIZERTIMES/Derek Wiley
McNary junior Faith Danner earned the win in the circle against Forest Grove on Tuesday, April
3. Danner was also 2-for-3 at the plate with a double and RBI in the victory.
Childress more relaxed
entering senior season
KEIZERTIMES/Derek Wiley
Jacob Jackson was one of the Celtics hottest bats during spring break at Volcanoes Stadium.
Jackson went 3-for-3 with two doubles and three RBIs against Hermiston on Saturday, March 31.
McNary starts GVC
play with road loss
By DEREK WILEY
Of the Keizertimes
McNary
got
another
strong pitching performance
as it opened league play but
its bats couldn’t back it up as
the Celtics fell at North Salem
3-1 on Tuesday, April 3.
David Allen shut out the
Vikings for three innings and
Ty Covalt’s RBI single scored
Collin Wentworth to give
McNary a 1-0 lead in the top
of the fourth. But North Sa-
lem answered with two runs
in the bottom of the inning
on a home run and double to
take a 2-1 lead.
McNary had won four in a
row against North Salem with
the last loss coming 2-1 on
April 28, 2015.
Behind a strong week of
pitching, McNary went 3-1
at Volcanoes Stadium during
spring break.
Senior Carl Rumbaugh
started the fi rst game, pitch-
ing all seven innings, as the
Celtics defeated Aloha 9-4
on Wednesday, March 28. He
allowed four hits and one
earned run.
McNary jumped on Aloha
early, scoring three runs in the
fi rst inning and two in the
second.
The Celtics fi nished the
game with 12 hits as Went-
worth was 3-for-4 with two
runs and two RBIs. Covalt
was 2-for-4 with a double and
3 RBIs. Lance Becktel was
2-for-2 with two runs and
Robert Benson was 2-for-4
with a run and RBI.
Allen took the mound in
the second game—a 15-3 win
over Hermiston on Thursday,
March 29.
He allowed two hits and no
earned runs in six innings.
While McNary led from
the beginning, the Celtics
busted the game open with 10
run in the seventh.
Jacob Jackson was 2-for-4
with a double, two runs and
three RBIs.
Please see LOSS, Page B4
By DEREK WILEY
Of the Keizertimes
As a freshman at McNary,
Hannah Childress fi nished
fourth in the state in doubles.
Now a senior, Childress
is chasing similar success in
singles.
“I’m really excited for this
year. I’ve been practicing and
I’m ready to compete,” said
Childress, who fi nished third
in the Greater Valley Confer-
ence last season. “I’ve just been
working on my mental game
and just staying relaxed during
my matches and working on
ball placement and getting up
to the net and putting it away.”
West Albany junior Ceanne
Elliot, who has won back-to-
back GVC singles champi-
onships, should be the girl to
beat. But Anya Gerasimova of
West Salem, who was runner-
up last season, has graduated.
A better fi nish in the dis-
trict tournament would get
Childress an easier draw at
state. Childress lost her fi rst
round match at state last sea-
son but regrouped to win the
singles consolation bracket.
“Singles is defi nitely more
stressful but this is my third
year playing singles competi-
tively,” Childress said. “I think
I’m ready. I’m going to do my
best. That’s part of the mental
aspect that I’ve been working
on, relaxing and just giving it
my all. That’s all I can do.”
Childress, who had spent
the last two years playing at
a tennis academy in Portland,
also decided she didn’t want to
play tennis in college, which
has allowed her to relax enter-
ing her senior year.
“That changed the ball
File
Hannah Childress is ready to make a bigger splash at the state
tournament after winning the consolation bracket last season.
game a little bit,” Childress
said. “The past two years I was
just focused on making col-
lege level and playing collegi-
ality. Now, that’s not a priority
and I’m just having fun.”
Childress leads a strong
group of McNary singles play-
ers, which also includes senior
Katherine Perez.
Perez won three matches
at the district tournament last
season before running into
Elliot in the quarterfi nals. She
spent the summer playing in
tournaments with her father.
“I want to at least fi nish
fourth in districts,” Perez said.
“My serves have gotten a lot
better, defi nitely. They’re a
lot more consistent and more
powerful. My forehand, I have
a lot more spin on it.”
McNary swept singles as
the Lady Celts won 5-3 at
Aloha on March 15.
Childress and Perez both
won 6-0, 6-1. Tanveer Sandhu
won 6-2, 6-2 at No. 3 singles.
After dropping her fi rst set
5-7, Avery Haymorwicz came
back at No. 4 singles, winning
6-3, 6-2. McNary’s fi fth point
came at No. 4 doubles, where
Juana Barajas and Trisha Faye
Tan won 6-2, 6-0.
Matthew Osberg, a student
teacher at McNary, is coach-
ing the Lady Celts this season.
Osberg previously coached
two seasons at Pocatello High
School in Idaho.
“I’m happy with the team,”
Osberg said. “I feel like every
practice I see improvement
with each player. They’re re-
ally coachable and I’m feeling
really positive about it.”