PAGE C2, KEIZERTIMES, MARCH 15, 2019
McNary hoping for bounce-back season
BY MATT RAWLINGS
Of the Keizertimes
Last season: 12-15, 8-8
Greater Valley Conference
(lost to Centennial in the state
qualifi er)
Although there are some
question marks surrounding
this McNary baseball team
heading into the 2019 season,
the Celtics do return a tal-
ented senior class that should
make them a threat in the
Mountain Valley Conference
this season.
“I’m really excited about
our seniors,” McNary head
coach Larry Keeker said about
his nine returning upperclass-
men. “When you have that
many kids come through the
program, make it to their se-
nior year and our still a part
of the team, quite frankly I’m
pretty proud of that.”
“Now is their chance to
lead the way.”
Key Losses:
Colin Wentworth — One
of two team captains for the
Celtics last season. Playing sec-
ond base, Wentworth batted
.319 and led the team with 22
RBIs, earning second-team
all-conference honors.
Lance Becktel — Also re-
ceived second-team all-league
recognition. Hit .294 last sea-
son and scored 19 runs.
Carl Rumbaugh — One of
McNary’s top pitchers last
season. Rumbaugh threw 49
innings on the season and had
an ERA of 2.00
Top Returners:
Jacob Jackson (senior- SS):
McNary’s top hitter from last
season. The shortstop led the
Celtics by batting .395 with
14 doubles, two homers and
26 runs scored. He was named
to all-conference fi rst-team.
Ty Covalt (senior- C): Re-
turning as a team captain.
Covalt batted .341 last season
with eight doubles, 14 RBIs
and 26 runs scored. He was
also a fi rst-team all-league
performer and is one of the
best defensive catchers in the
state.
David Allen (senior- RHP/
OF): The unquestioned ace of
this McNary team. Allen was
the workhorse for the Celtics
on the hill last season, throw-
ing 56 innings on the season
and recording an ERA of 1.12
and striking out 30. Allen is
also expected to be one of
McNary top performers at the
plate — he hit .321 last season.
“I think offensively, we’ll
be a solid group one through
nine,” Keeker said.
While Allen is expected
to eat up a lot of innings on
the mound, it is unknown at
this point what the rest of the
McNary pitching rotation will
look like.
“Our biggest question
marks will be pitchers two,
three, four and fi ve,” Keeker
said. “We’ll just have to see
how they perform in a varsity
game.”
Senior Devin Bedoya saw
some time on the hill last year
and will be called upon to step
into a bigger role this season.
Junior Rennick Jeffries will
also see time on the mound,
despite having no pitching ex-
perience at the varsity level.
“(Jeffries) has a lot of po-
tential,” Keeker said. “He has
arguably some of the best stuff
on our roster.”
Nigel Harris and Robert
Benson will also be expected
to throw.
One thing McNary will
want to clean up on this sea-
son is their defensive play.
The Celtics averaged more
than three errors per contest
last year — including a sea-
son-high nine errors in their
season-ending loss to Centen-
nial.
However, Keeker does ex-
pect this team to be a little
more electric on the bases this
season — the Celtics swiped
32 bags in 2018 and are hop-
ing to pump that number up
in 2019.
“Our team speed has been
better than it has been in the
past,” Keeker said. “Overall
speed at different positions
and on the base paths will al-
File
Returning fi rst-team all-leaguer Jacob Jackson will be relied upon to carry the McNary offense this season. The senior hit .395 last
year with 16 extra-base hits and 26 runs scored.
low us to do a few more things
offensively.”
While this McNary squad
does have some holes, the Celt-
ics should be in position for the
postseason by the time mid-
May rolls around.
“Our core goals and core ex-
pectations for every single year
is to be the best baseball team
we can possibly be,” McNary
head coach Larry Keeker
said. “This particular team,
with the number of seniors
we have coming back, we’re
at a good point.”
“From our point of view,
we’re defi nitely thinking that
this could be a playoff team.
There’s no doubt about that.”
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