Keizertimes., April 20, 2018, Page PAGE B1, Image 13

APRIL 20, 2018, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE B1
KEIZERTIMES.COM
KEIZERTIMES/Derek Wiley
McNary senior Chandler Cavell, left, signed to play basketball at Corban University. Softball players Nadia Witt, left, and Haley Ebner signed with University of California, Riverside and Eastern
Oregon University. Jessy Shore signed to play soccer at the University of New England in Maine.
National signing day at McNary
Witt going to California,
Ebner to Eastern Oregon
By DEREK WILEY
Of the Keizertimes
McNary seniors Nadia
Witt and Haley Ebner weren’t
always good at softball.
According to the girls, they
were actually quite bad.
“I was so bad. It was
rough,” Witt said, remember-
ing her early playing days on
the Oregon Titans as a nine-
year-old. “Going up to bat, al-
most in tears because I knew
I wouldn’t hit it. I didn’t play
that much either. It was so
sad. I don’t know why I didn’t
quit but I didn’t.”
Ebner told a similar tale.
“I would walk up to the
plate crying and dragging my
bat every time because I just
didn’t want to go up there,”
Ebner said.
For Witt, the breakthrough
came when she began hit-
ting left-handed. Ebner just
needed to open her eyes at
the plate.
They both also had to ma-
ture.
“It’s a mental game so you
can’t go up there already de-
feated,” Witt said.
Their coach with the Or-
egon Titans, Rick Muranaka,
confi rmed their story.
“They were like the Bad
News Bears,” Muranaka said.
“There was times when they
were crying and I had to con-
sole them and they’d come up
and I’d give them a hug and
say, ‘You can do it.’ I just kept
building them up like I would
my own daughter, and over
time they started to get a lot
better.”
On Wednesday, April 11,
Witt and Ebner celebrated
how far they’d come, an-
nouncing their college deci-
sions to play softball at the
University of California, Riv-
erside and Eastern Oregon.
Ebner committed to East-
ern Oregon in December of
2016.
Please see SIGNING, Page B3
KEIZERTIMES/Derek Wiley
McNary seniors Nadia Witt, left, and Haley Ebner, teammates
since they were 13 years old with the Oregon Titans, will play on
different college programs next year.
Shore
heading
Northeast
to UNE
By DEREK WILEY
Of the Keizertimes
When McNary senior Jessy
Shore narrowed her college
decision down to four schools,
not one was closer than 3,000
miles from home.
“I knew I wanted to go
somewhere far away,” Shore
said. “I’m not fond of the
midwest and I’ve been on a
couple of (Washington) D.C.
trips and I liked the east coast.”
Shore got to her fi nal four
colleges by using Oregon’s
Career Information System,
which allows students to plug
in the major, location and
type of college they are look-
ing for and then gives them a
list of schools.
After visiting Bridgwater
State and Fitchburg State in
Massachusetts, the University
of New England in Maine
and the University of New
Hampshire, Shore narrowed
her choice down to two and
over spring break went to
Bridgwater and New England
for a second time.
She then signed with New
England in the McNary li-
brary on Wednesday, April 11.
While Shore was deter-
mined to play soccer in col-
lege, academics was the most
important part of her deci-
sion.
“It was defi nitely fi rst aca-
Cavell
to stay
home,
play at
Corban
KEIZERTIMES/Derek Wiley
McNary senior Jessy Shore heads the ball during a game
played last season.
demics and then I looked at
soccer, just because I love it
and I didn’t want to part with
it so soon,” Shore said. “ I real-
ly wanted to play, but I wasn’t
willing to sacrifi ce my school-
ing for the ability to play.”
Choosing between her fi -
nal two came down to team
chemistry.
“Both times I met one-on-
one with the players and to
see how I meshed with their
style of living and how they
were as people and I bonded
a lot better with UNE and
those players,” Shore said.
Shore began playing when
she was six with Keizer Soc-
cer Club.
“I’ve never played another
sport,” Shore said.
“I’ve always loved it (soc-
cer). I know my fi rst year
playing I was one of the worst
people on the team. I was def-
initely not the best player out
there but I loved it enough
that I kept working at it.”
Please see SHORE, Page B3
By DEREK WILEY
Of the Keizertimes
McNary senior Chandler
Cavell was ready to follow his
brother and walk on at Se-
attle Pacifi c University until
he met Austin Johnson, head
coach at Corban University,
late in the season.
And on Wednesday, April
11, Cavell signed with the
Warriors.
“I like the coach a lot and
being close to home was
probably the biggest thing
for me, just having a little bit
of that security in my back
pocket and going home and
doing laundry and having my
parents to support me,” Cavell
said.
Johnson attended several of
Cavell’s games late in the sea-
son as McNary fi nished the
regular season on a six-game
winning streak to win the
Greater Valley Conference.
Cavell played in open gyms
at Corban as well as toured
the campus before making his
decision.
“It was pretty tough for
me to pick between there and
Seattle Pacifi c but my family
supported me through it all
KEIZERTIMES/Derek Wiley
Chandler Cavell, who led the Celtics in points, rebounds, assists
and steals last season, will play at Corban University.
so that was nice,” Cavell said.
“My parents are happy be-
cause it’s a lot closer so they
can watch me.”
Chandler is the third Cavell
sibling to play a sport in col-
lege after Madi and Harry
went to Seattle Pacifi c to play
volleyball and basketball. But
Chandler never felt pressured
to follow in their footsteps.
“My parents did a good
job of not forcing me to go-
ing into one thing,” Cavell
said. “They didn’t pressure
me into getting a college bas-
ketball offer or anything like
that. It was something I want-
ed to do.”
Cavell, who has played bas-
ketball for as long as he can
remember, joined the Keizer
Youth Basketball Association
in the fourth grade and then
began playing on tournament
teams in middle school.
McNary head coach Ryan
Kirch has known Cavell since
he was in the fourth grade.
Please see CAVELL, Page B3