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.