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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (March 29, 2019)
PAGE A14, KEIZERTIMES, MARCH 29, 2019 MARCH MARKDOWN SALES EVENT Keizer SEE DEALER FOR COMPLETE DETAILS 3555 River Road N, Keizer (503) 463 - 4853 www.skylineforddirect.com KEIZERTIMES.COM McNary honors Hall of Famers KEIZERTIMES/Matt Rawlings KEIZERTIMES/Matt Rawlings Lisa Blush receives her plaque at the McNary Hall of Fame Banquet. Blush graduated from McNary in 1986 and lettered in four sports. Former McNary great Shawn Kintner receives his Hall of Fame hardware. Kintner graudated in 1998 and is one of the most decorated McNary athletes of all time. BY MATT RAWLINGS Of the Keizertimes In the fi rst time in nearly a decade, McNary High School made some additions to their athletic Hall of Fame. Mike Doherty, Lisa Blush, Shawn Kintner and the 2009 state championship baseball team were the most recent in- ductees into the hall of fame in a ceremony that took place at the Keizer Civic Center on Fri- day, March 15. Hundreds of former athletes, coaches, parents and commu- nity members were in atten- dance to recognize the athletic achievements of these individ- uals. It took more than fi ve months to plan, but at the end of the day, the event ended up being a huge success. “It was a labor of love, but honestly, that is why we do it,” McNary principal Erik Jespers- en said. “Yes, we’re honoring former athletes, but we’re also bringing the community to- gether. There a bunch of peo- ple here that weren’t a coach, teacher or employee, they just care about Keizer, and that’s is why they’re here celebrating to- night.” The fi rst honoree of the eve- ning was Doherty, who was the boys basketball coach at Mc- Nary from 1965 to 1969 Doherty was the fi rst basket- ball coach at McNary and led the Celtics to the state cham- pionship in 1968 — which was the school’s fi rst state title of any kind. “That team played a huge role in putting McNary on the map,” Doherty said. “It was fun to come home to a big recep- tion. I’ll never forget that.” He left McNary with a 57- 40 record in 1969 and con- tinued his coaching career at Reynolds, Corvallis, Baker, Hermiston, Oregon City, Scap- poose and Newberg before re- tiring in 2012 after 54 years of coaching. His teams won 21 league titles and appeared in 25 state tournaments. Doherty also won two state titles at Corvallis (1980, 1984). With a career re- cord of 850 wins and 390 losses, Doherty has the highest win to- tal of any coach in any sport in Oregon history. Over the course of his coaching career, Doherty has been awarded Oregon Coach of the Year three times and Na- tional Coach of the Year once. He is a member of the Oregon Athletic Hall of Fame as well as the National Coaches Hall of Fame. Even though it’s been 50 years since he coached at Mc- Nary, Doherty still provides a scholarship to a Celtic stu- dent-athlete every year. He also keeps in touch with his players from his championship team at McNary — many of which were attendance to see their former coach honored. “They’re all some of my best friends now,” Doherty said of his former players. “It’s just been great to have those roots that started at McNary High School.” Blush was the second athlete of the evening to receive recog- nition. Blush was a star athlete at McNary from 1982 to 1986 and earned varsity letters in vol- leyball, soccer, basketball and track & fi eld. She was a team captain for the basketball and soccer teams. She placed in fi ve different events at the 1986 Valley League Track & Field Championships and set the McNary school re- cord in the high jump (5-feet-5 inches). Blush received all-league honors in soccer and basketball and was the Salem Sports and Breakfast Club’s Female Athlete of the Year in 1986 — as well as the McNary Girl Athlete of the Year. Blush was a part of the 1986 McNary girls basketball team that qualifi ed for the state play- offs for the fi rst time in school history. Blush now lives in Europe, but made the trip across the world to be in attendance. “I really wanted to be here. It’s really emotional for me to revisit that time in pictures and old articles and realize how sup- ported we were as kids,” Blush said. “The whole community supported us. It was amazing.” Please see HOF, Page A11 Celts fall to former conference foe KEIZERTIMES/Matt Rawlings McNary’s Jacob Jackson heads for second base after hitting a ball to the wall in right fi eld. Jackson had four hits on the night, but it wasn’t enough as the Celtics fell to North Salem by a score of 11-5 BY MATT RAWLINGS Of the Keizertimes After falling behind early, the McNary baseball team wasn’t able to recover in their non- league contest with North Sa- lem. North Salem scored four runs in the bottom of the fi rst and went on to defeat the Celt- ics 11-5 on Thursday, Mar. 21. McNary had their top arm on the hill in David Allen, but the senior right-hander strug- gled to get into a rhythm in the bottom of the fi rst. North Salem started the game with fi ve consecutive hits to take the early 3-0 lead as Al- len had a hard time locating his fastball. “His fastball was up in the zone and North Salem has al- ways been a good fastball hit- ting team,” McNary head coach Larry Keeker said. “His velocity was fi ne. It’s just that when you locate it at the belt up in the strike zone, those guys are going to be able to hit it.” After issuing a free pass to load the bases, a dropped fl y ball in left fi eld allowed anoth- er North Salem run to come across. Allen was able to retire the next three hitters, but the dam- age had already been done. Despite the run differential, McNary actually matched the Vikings with 13 hits on the night. However, the Celtics couldn’t take advantage with runners in scoring position. This theme began in the top of the fi rst as one-out singles from Allen and Jacob Jackson got a threat going for the Celt- ics. But the Vikings got out of the frame unscathed. “With all the hits, you would think we would score a few more runs,” Keeker said. “We just simply missed some oppor- tunities.” McNary got their fi rst run in the bottom of the third on a RBI-double from Jackson — who was 4-for-4 on the night — to cut McNary’s defi cit to 4-1. But a pair of base-running errors prevented the Celtics from doing anymore damage. With no outs and Jackson on second, the senior shortstop got too greedy and tried to swipe third, but was thrown out by North Salem catcher Brian Bernal. Ty Covalt then got aboard on a hard-hit single, but was doubled-up moments later after Please see BASE, Page A11
