PAGE A14, KEIZERTIMES, MARCH 29, 2019
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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