Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (May 24, 2019)
PAGE B8, KEIZERTIMES, MAY 24, 2019 0 72 % APR FOR Keizer MONTHS 3555 River Road N, Keizer (503) 463 - 4853 *0% for 72 months must finance with Ford Motor Credit. Must trade 95 or newer. Not valid with any other incentives. On approved credit. See dealer for details. Offer expires 05-31-2019. 2019 ESCAPE 2019 EDGE 2019 EXPLORER 2018 /19 F- 150 www.skylineforddirect.com KEIZERTIMES.COM McNary rallies for fi rst round victory pressure situations,” Danner BY MATT RAWLINGS said. “I’m able to focus in Of the Keizertimes After trailing for the en- pretty well and I don’t let tirety of the game, Alexa mental stuff get to me.” “I was not ready for this Cepeda had a chance to be a hero for the Celtics softball to be my last game in this team in the bottom of the uniform.” The Black Tornadoes sixth. And the McNary cen- struck again ter fi elder took in the top of full advantage the third on of the opportu- an RBI-sin- nity. gle by Sha- C e p e d a har Miles to came to the put North plate in the Medford up bottom of the 3-0. Mc- sixth with the Nary, how- bases loaded ever, was and two outs able to re- with the Celtics — Faith Danner spond in the trailing 4-2. Af- bottom half ter working the (McNary pitcher) of the in- count to full ning. and fouling off After an infi eld single four pitches, Cepeda lined a three-run double to the wall from Cepeda and a walk in left fi eld, bringing in the from Abbi Covalt, McNary go-ahead score and allow- shortstop Taylor Ebbs ripped ing McNary to come away a base hit up the middle that with a 5-4 win over North scored Cepeda from fi rst to Medford in their fi rst round cut the lead to 3-1. Both teams went score- playoff game on Monday, less in the fourth inning, May 21. “It felt awesome. I love but North Medford pushed being there for my team and another one across in the I love that I was the one to top of the fi fth thanks to an be in that position to help us RBI-single to center fi eld by Lauren Berry. pull it off,” Cepeda said. The ball got to the wall McNary head coach Kev- in Wise added: “When we on the base hit due to a mis- get to the playoffs, Alexa is play by Cepeda in center one of those kids that turns fi eld. Berry pushed the en- velope and tried to make it it up another notch.” After suffering an early to third, but a perfect throw exit in last year’s postseason, from Cepeda nailed the this McNary crew need- North Medford shortstop at ed some extra resiliency to third base. Cepeda would make an- make sure they didn’t suf- fer that same fate this time other rally-saving play in the following frame. around. With runners on sec- The Celtics found them- selves in a 2-0 hole after two ond and third and two outs, innings as North Medford’s Grace Johnson roped a line small-ball approach turned drive into left center fi eld out to be successful for them that would have easily scored early on against McNary both runners, but Cepe- da made a fantastic leaping pitcher Faith Danner. Danner had to deal with catch to get the Celtics out a lot of traffi c on the bas- of trouble. “We always pride our- es throughout her com- plete-game outing. But the selves on our hitting, but de- star-senior always found fense is the thing that really ways to minimize damage keeps us in the game espe- as she only gave up three cially when it’s a close game,” earned runs, despite surren- Cepeda said. dering 11 hits. Please see CELTS, Page B6 “I pitch a lot better in “I was not ready for this to be my last game in this uniform.” KEIZERTIMES/Matt Rawlings Kate Ronning (left) celebrates with Alexa Cepeda (right) after McNary records the fi nal out in their 5-4 victory against North Med- ford in the fi rst round of the OSAA Playoffs. Cepeda hit a three-run double to give the Celtics the lead in the bottom of the sixth. KEIZERTIMES/Matt Rawlings Kamryn Miller slides safely across home plate for the go-ahead run. KEIZERTIMES/Matt Rawlings Faith Danner threw a complete game for the Celtics, giving up just three earned runs on the night. Celts send 11 athletes to podium at districts Submitted Isabella Walker runs the fi rst leg of the girls 4x400 relay race at the Mountain Valley Conference District Meet. BY MATT RAWLINGS Of the Keizertimes Although they didn’t qualify any kids for the state meet, the McNary track and fi eld team was able to get 11 athletes (six boys and fi ve girls) onto the podium at the Mountain Valley Conference District last weekend (May 16-18) at Summit High School. Despite dealing with rain and wind for most of the meet, the Celtics had multi- ple athletes set new personal records. “I feel really good about what we did,” McNary head coach Frank Gauntz said. “It wasn’t ideal conditions to put really good times down, but the majority of our kids had a really good meet. Two of the top athletes for the McNary boys this season have been sprinters Ethan Martin and Bryan Hernan- dez, both of whom were hopeful to snag a spot at the state meet. But after making it to the 100-meter fi nals, Her- nandez pulled his hamstring 20 meters into the race and was unable to fi nish. He also had to be scratched from the 200m fi nals due to the injury. Martin, on the other hand, ended up rolling his ankle while warming up for the 4x100 relay and couldn’t perform up to what he was capable of. Losing both athletes was a huge blow to this Celtics squad. “It was really unfortunate to lose those guys,” Gauntz said. “It put a damper mood on the guys side, but there’s nothing we can do. It was just kind of a fl uke thing.” The two top performers for the boys team were Lo- gan Anderson and Sunny Hoang. Anderson took fi fth in the javelin with his personal best throw of 145-feet-5-inches while Hoang placed fi fth in the pole vault, beating his old personal record by nearly a foot (12-3). Cole Garland placed sixth in the triple jump with his personal-best leap of 40- 2.5. McLean Schmidtt took Please see TRACK, Page B7
