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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (May 17, 2019)
MAY 173 20193 KEIZERTIMES3 PAGE A13 Volcanoes host first FanFest CELTS, continued from Page A16 KEIZERTIMES/Matt Rawlings Hannah Ebner looks to toss the ball to fi rst base after fi elding a ground ball. ATHLETE of the Week presented by JOEL DUTCHER Senior at McNary High School After placing 14th at the Mountain Valley Conference District Tournament3 Dutcher placed second at the Special District 3 Regional Tournament on Monday3 May 6 at the Oregon Golf Association Golf Course in Woodburn. Dutcher shot one-over-par (73) with fi ve birdies3 qualfying him for the state tournament for the second straight season. Cluster to score with a sharp single between third base and shortstop on the next at-bat. Alexa Cepeda then followed with a sacrifi ce fl y to left fi eld, putting McNary up 3-1. Bend pitcher Lena Zahn- iser was able to hold McNary without a run in the third and fourth innings. The Lava Bears even cut the defi cit to one in the top of the fourth. But the Celtics offense began to break out in the bottom of the fi fth. Danner and Kate Ronning began the McNary threat with back-to-back one-out singles, which was followed by an RBI-double to center fi eld by Cluster. Schwab capped off the in- ning with a two-run single up the middle to extend Mc- Nary’s lead to 6-2. In the bottom of the sixth, the Celtics continued to pour it on. McNary got six runs on fi ve hits in the inning as they ended the game early once they gained a 10-run lead. It is the second time in three years that the Celtics have been crowned league champions. But that didn’t make the accomplishment any less enjoyable. “It honestly feels so good to win league. We have all just gelled really well together,” Ronning said. The Celtics will host their fi rst round playoff game on Monday, May 20. The op- ponent has still been unde- termined. But one thing is for sure; this team has loftier goals and expectations that go beyond just winning a conference title. “We want to win state. That is the ultimate goal. But we mainly just want to go out there and just play our best for each other,” Danner said. Wise also added: “I think we could make a good run in the playoffs. We have the hit- ting, the speed and the pitch- ing.” “They just have a lot of faith and trust in each other.” Submitted Tony Torcato3 a veteran of the San Francisco Giants3 autographs a baseball for visitors at FanFest. BY HERB SWETT For the Keizertimes Nearly 600 fans of the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes got a preview of the 2019 sea- son by visiting the team’s fi rst ever FanFest event on Saturday, May 11 at Volca- noes Stadium. Mitche Graf, the new president of the team, met the fans and told them about the expanded sound system and the new food conces- sions. He directed them to the table where former play- ers in the San Francisco Gi- ants organization were sign- ing autographs and set aside time for aspiring anthem singers to be auditioned. “It was a great turnout,” he said, considering that the Volcanoes had never had such an event before. Graf, who lives in Canby, owns a manufacturing com- pany and catering and con- sulting businesses. His wife, Tami, will share in his duties with the Volcanoes. Leading off for the au- tograph signers was Tony Torcato, who played for the Giants as a utility outfi elder and corner infi elder for four seasons and shares a distinc- tion with Mickey Mantle — a lifetime batting average of .298. After Torcato came Dan- iel Turpin and Joe Paterson, both of whom were drafted by the Giants after pitching for Oregon State Univer- sity. Neither reached ma- jor league baseball or even played long in the minors. Between 15 and 20 peo- ple auditioned for anthem singing and several food vendors passed out free sam- ples. Leading the Volcanoes will be a partly new staff. Mark Hallberg is the new manager and last year was the fundamentals coach. He played in the Arizona Dia- mondbacks organization as a shortstop, second baseman and third baseman. The new batting coach is Doug Clark, who played 14 professional games after being drafted from the Uni- versity of Massachusetts at Amherst. Returning to coach the pitchers is Dwight Bernard, who pitched briefl y for the Milwaukee Brewers and the New York Mets. He has been coaching for several minor league teams since 1986. Nestor Rojas succeeds Hallberg as fundamentals coach. A native of Venezuela, he was a backup catcher for several minor league teams and has coached and man- aged in the Giants organiza- tion since 2003. Also from Venezuela is Victor Cairo, the bullpen catcher. He was a reserve catcher for the Volcanoes for part of last season. None of them showed up Saturday, because they were on duty with the Giants or- ganization. Broadcasters for radio station KYKN, how- ever, did show up; they will be providing play-by-play this season after an absence of over a decade. This year’s season will start June 14 with a home game against the Boise Hawks. Regular-season play will conclude Sept. 2 with a home game against the Eu- gene Emeralds.
