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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (May 18, 2018)
MAY 18, 2018, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE B1 KEIZERTIMES.COM Celtics lose play-in game, ending season By DEREK WILEY Of the Keizertimes Errors plagued McNary’s baseball team all season. On Tuesday, May 15, errors ended it, as the Celtics com- mitted nine errors in a 15-11 loss to Centennial in a state playoff play-in game. After a clean fi rst inning, a single, infi eld error and hit batter loaded the bases with zero outs for the Eagles. Carl Rumbaugh then walked in the fi rst run of the game. But McNary had chances to get out of the inning with- out giving up more runs. Rumbaugh got a ground ball to fi rst base but Ryan Thompson’s throw home hit the Centennial runner in the helmet. Rumbaugh then got a fl y ball to left fi eld but Robert Benson couldn’t catch it in foul territory, extending the inning. The Eagles took advantage, scoring seven runs to put Mc- Nary in an early hole. “We haven’t been a great fi elding team all year so it kind of showed up again to- night,” McNary head coach Larry Keeker said. “We’ve made some improvements in fi elding but tonight obviously our defense was subpar. When you’re giving up that seven spot in the second, it’s an up- hill battle from there.” But the Celtics fought back, scoring three runs in the bottom of the second. After Noah Bach walked and Dave Alfaro singled, Benson tripled to get McNary on the board. Thompson, who reached on a fi elder’s choice, then scored on a Centennial error. The Celtics added two more runs in the bottom of the third to get within 7-5. But the wheels continued to fall off in the top of the fourth. With runners at second and third after a base hit and another error, Rumbaugh struck out back-to-back hit- ters. But Centennial answered with a RBI single and double to stretch its lead to 9-5. Pitching in relief, Kyle McCallister got a fl y ball to the mound but misplayed it, allowing two more runs to score. The Eagles continued to give McNary chances, com- mitting seven errors of their own. “We had a ton of oppor- tunities,” Keeker said. “Really quite frankly it wasn’t a very good baseball game. It just really wasn’t. Neither team KEIZERTIMES/Derek Wiley McNary seniors Blake Junker, Ryan Thompson, Brady Ellis, Andy Okada, Kyle McCallister, Collin Wentworth, Lance Becktel, Carl Rumbaugh, John Catron and Dave Alfaro were honored before the Celtics fi nal regular season home game on Wednesday, May 9. played well defensively. Of- fensively, I guess you’ve got to give our guys some credit be- cause I thought we had some really good swings. We had some balls that were hit hard right at people. The bottom line is we also left some guys on base.” After Jacob Jackson reached on an error to lead off the bottom of the fourth, Lance Becktel drove him home with a triple. Ty Covalt then deliv- ered a sacrifi ce fl y to get the Celtics within 11-7. But McNary had three more errors in the top of the fi fth, including failing to turn a double play and catching a ball at home plate, that ac- counted for two more runs. Alfaro and Collin Went- worth delivered RBI hits in the bottom of the sixth as the Celtics scored three runs to get within 13-11. Please see ERRORS, Page B3 Childress runner-up in GVC KEIZERTIMES/Derek Wiley McNary senior Hannah Childress fi nished second in the GVC girls singles tournament on Saturday, May 12 at Salem Tennis and Swim Club to qualify for her fourth state tournament. By DEREK WILEY Of the Keizertimes SALEM—Hannah Childress battled cramps in both feet to reach her fi rst Greater Valley Conference girls singles fi nal on Saturday, May 12 at Salem Tennis and Swim Club. But the McNary senior couldn’t bring home the title, falling to three-time district champion Ceanne Elliott of West Albany 6-0, 6-1. “I think it would have been a lot more competitive if she would have been more fresh,” McNary head coach Mathew Osberg said. After cruising to the semifi nals, dropping just fi ve games in three matches, to qualify for her fourth state tennis tournament, Childress defeated South Salem sophomore Abby Fedor 7-5, 6-2 Saturday morning to reach the fi nals. “The fi rst set was really chal- lenging,” Childress said. “Start- ing the second set, she (Fedor) was really motivated. But all the ATHLETE of the Week presented by HANNAH CHILDRESS energy just dropped and I no- ticed she was getting more tired and frustrated so I picked up my game then and I hit a little bump when she won the second game and the rest I just really wanted to win. I’d put so much energy into that match and wanted to make it into the fi nals. I love how it’s my last year and I made it to the fi nals. It’s progress.” Please see TENNIS, Page B3 Lady Celts fi nish strong, ready for playoffs By DEREK WILEY Of the Keizertimes McNary fi nished the regular season with a come-from-behind walk-off win over West Sa- lem and run-rule victory at Sprague. Now, the Lady Celts are hoping to carry that momentum into the state playoffs. “We’re defi nitely excited going into the playoffs because obviously we ended our season on a high note,” McNary senior Haley Ebner said. “So we’re hoping to build off of that and get in the playoffs and play strong.” The Lady Celts, No. 20, will open the state tournament against No. 13 Franklin on Mon- day, May 21 at 4 p.m. at Erv Lind Stadium in Portland. McNary is familiar with the Quakers. The two teams met on March 21 with Franklin winning 14-10. The Lady Celts had four infi eld errors in the fi rst three innings and fell behind 12-3. “We did not play well,” McNary head coach Kevin Wise said. “We made a ton of errors. It was ugly. We didn’t show up for like fi ve in- nings. We were trying to kill the pitcher and hit home runs and we fi gured out we have to go through the middle.” Franklin went on to win the Portland In- terscholastic League and fi nish the season 19-6 but fi ve of the Quakers losses came in March. Franklin went 17-1 in league play. The Quak- ers only loss came to No. 18 Roosevelt 2-0 on April 23. No other team in the their league is ranked in the top 25. “I don’t want to downplay them (Franklin) because they have some talent but when you look at their conference, it is not good,” Wise said. In contrast, the Greater Valley Conference had four teams fi nish in the top 20. Along with McNary, were No. 10 West Albany, No. 12 Mc- Minnville and No. 16 West Salem. “When you look at where our conference is you’ve got West Albany, West Salem and Mc- Minnville and all three of those teams are really tough and have really good pitching,” Wise said. “I think this year it’s very balanced. We’re all pretty close to each other.” Please see FINISH, Page B6 KEIZERTIMES/Derek Wiley McNary seniors Emma Kinler, Haley Ebner and Nadia Witt were honored after the Lady Celts fi nal home game on Wednesday, May 9, a 10-9 win over West Salem.
