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.