PAGE B8, KEIZERTIMES, MAY 24, 2019
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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