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PAGE A14, KEIZERTIMES, SEPTEMBER 6, 2019 KEIZERTIMES.COM Celts volleyball brings mix of experience and youth KEIZERTIMES/Matt Rawlings Chloe Martindale passes off to a teammate after receiving a serve at McNary’s Blue Day on Friday, Aug. 23. Martindale is expected to be one of the key players for the Celtics this season. By MATT RAWLINGS Of the Keizertimes At fi rst glance, it appears that the McNary volleyball squad wasn’t very strong in 2018, fi nishing the year with a 5-17 record and go- ing 2-12 in Mountain Valley Conference However, the fact of the matter was that many times over the course of the con- ference season, McNary had strong outings against stiff competition. But the prob- lem was, far too often, the Celtics couldn’t fi nish the job. In 10 of McNary’s 12 losses last season, they were able to win at least one set, so one of the points of empha- sis for this year’s Celtic team is to make sure they are play- ing to the best of their ability in matches that go four or fi ve sets. “That has defi nitely been a big part of our focus this season. Our returners have set that as an expectation from the beginning,” Mc- Nary head coach Crystal DeMello said. Relying on returners will be the norm for the Celt- ics this season as they bring back six players from last year’s squad — fi ve of whom are seniors. But McNary will also have some notable new- comers that are expected to make an immediate impact. “I’m really excited about this season. We have a great mix of players that can play multiple positions, which is always great to have that kind of versatility. It gives you lots of options,” DeMello said. McNary returns two of the best outside hitters in the Mountain Valley Confer- ence in Taylor Ebbs and Zoie Warner. Warner, a senior, has been on McNary’s varsity team in all four years of her career. She has also been recognized as an honorable mention all-conference player for the past two seasons. Ebbs, on the other hand, is one of the most dynamic athletes in the MVC — she received all-state honors as a softball player in the spring — and comes into her junior year with two seasons of ex- perience on the varsity team. “They are not just strong returning players, they are leaders that have attitude and competitiveness,” DeMello said of her two outside hit- ters. “Naturally in this sport, the outside sees a lot of ac- tion, so having them as assets and being able to utilize the entire front row gives a lot of opportunities for those girls.” The other big-time re- turner for McNary is senior Chloe Martindale. Last season, Martindale Please see CELTS, Page A9 Volcanoes drop regular season fi nale By HERB SWETT Of the Keizertimes A team mostly of new- comers to the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes fell to the visiting Eugene Emeralds 6-1 Mon- day, Sept. 2 in the regular season fi nale. Nick Avila was the start- ing pitcher for the Volcanoes and Richard Gallardo for Eugene in this game, which was scoreless through the fi rst four innings. In the Emerald fi fth, with Andy Rohloff taking the mound, Yovanny Cuevas reached fi rst base by getting hit with a pitch. After getting the fi rst out of the inning, Rohloff issued a pair of free passes to load up the bases. Things went from bad to worse for Rohloff when Cuevas scored on a passed ball, which was followed by a two-run double by Jake Washer. Trailing 3-0, Salem-Keiz- er threatened but did not score in the bottom of the fi fth. Luis Toribio led off by striking out, but reached fi rst on a third-strike wild pitch. Yorlis Rodriguez singled to center, moving Toribio to second. Harrison Freed, however lined into a double play in the next at-bat. The Volca- noes kept the threat going when Matt Malkin singled to left and Beicker Mendo- za reached fi rst on an error to load the bases. But Kwan Adkins fl ew out to center to end the inning. Fernando Kelli hit a two- run double off Volcanoes pitcher Abel Adames to put the Emeralds up 5-0. In the Volcano sixth, Jai- ro Pomares doubled to right and scored Salem-Keiz- er’s only run as Martorano reached fi rst on an error by Eugene second baseman Jos- ue Huma. With Israel Cruz on the mound for Salem-Keiz- The attendance, although only 2,004, moved the reg- ular-season attendance total past 80,000. KEIZERTIMES/Matt Rawlings Harrison Freed gets waved around third and heads into score in Salem-Keizer’s 10-7 loss to Eugene on Sunday, Sept. 1. er in the seventh, Alexan- der Guerra hit an infi eld single and later came in to score Eugene’s fi nal run on a double to right center by Grayson Byrd. The Volcanoes used eight pitchers and the Emeralds fi ve. The winning pitch- er was Yovanny Cruz with a 1-2 record. The loser was Rohloff at 0-1. Acknowledging that he used mostly reserves and newcomers, acting Volcanoes manager Nestor Rojas said, “We have to stay sharp for the playoffs.” Wednesday, Aug. 28: Volcanoes 6, Eugene 5 This road game, in which Salem-Keizer had a 5-1 lead after four innings, turned into a cliffhanger. Eugene outhit the Volca- noes 7-5 but also committed three errors to one for the visitors. Eight Salem-Keiz- er walks and seven by the Emeralds contributed to the suspense. Travis Perry started for the Volcanoes and became the winning pitcher at 5-2 with six strikeouts in fi ve innings. Clay Helvey, who relieved him, pitched out of several bases-loaded jams. Deiyerbert Bolivar back from a brief rehab in the Ar- izona Summer League, got his second save as a member of the Volcanoes. The game eliminated the Emeralds from postseason contention. Thursday, Aug. 29: Volcanoes 10, Eugene 5 The Volcanoes broke a 1-1 tie with two runs in the third inning and stayed ahead the rest of the way. Two of the home runs in the game were by Sa- lem-Keizer: a two-run shot by Alex Canario in the third inning and a three-run ho- mer by Carter Aldrete in the seventh. Eugene’s homer was a solo shot by Jake Washer in the fourth. For the Volcanoes, Canar- io had four hits, Matt Malkin three and Adrete two. Two Emeralds, Yovanny Cuevas and Jacob Olson had two hits apiece. Ben Madison was the winning pitcher in relief with a 2-0 record, and Israel Please see SKV, Page A11 McNary looks to contend despite roster changes By MATT RAWLINGS Of the Keizertimes The McNary boys soc- cer program will have some turnover in their roster in 2019 after graduating nine players from last year’s team. What hasn’t changed, however, is the level of con- fi dence that head coach Mi- guel Camarena has in his program. “We always have younger guys in the program, so we want to develop those guys so that every year so we can compete at the highest lev- el. This year is going to be the same,” Camarena said. “We have a really good base of of incoming juniors and seniors, plus we have some quality freshman coming in, so our expectations are high.” Four of the players lost to graduation were cousins — Miguel Bravo, Jose Luis Bra- vo, Jovanie Bravo and Jesus Lopez. All four players were played for the Celtics varsity squad for at least three sea- sons. The Celtics will also be without Sebastian Lopez, a 2018 fi rst-team all-league goalkeeper. But even though they will be missed, Camarena be- lieves that last year’s senior class helped pave the way for his current upperclassmen. “What they did together is something that I will nev- er forget. For two years in a row, they helped us be the best defense in the confer- ence and they have helped a lot of these kids become bet- ter players,” Camarena said. The Celtics only allowed multiple goals in two of 13 regular season games last sea- son. Camarena plans on that trend to continue in 2019 as seniors Alexis Soto, Manuel Avendano and Jose Martinez will look to lead the back line for McNary this year. But one thing that the Celtics are hoping to change this season is the amount of goals they score. In 2018, McNary was held to one goal or fewer in nine of their contests. How- ever, Camarena believes that he has the personnel to turn that stat around this year. “Last year, one of biggest issues was that we couldn’t score. We would create so many opportunities and not score. That is going to be a focus this year. We’re going to have guys this year in that position that can put the ball inside the net,” Camarena said. The players that Camare- na is referring to are juniors Edgar Salazar, Eddie Marti- nez and Eli Petilo. The three forwards are expected to get the bulk of the scoring op- portunities for the Celtics. In the midfi eld will be se- nior leaders Luis Lopez and Jack Baez, both of whom have played on the McNary varsity team every year of their respective careers. With the Celtics in the same conference as Summit — the state runner-up from last season, who is bringing back nearly their entire ros- ter — it’s likely that McNary won’t be vying for a MVC ti- tle. However, it is realistic for this McNary team to fi nish in the top third of the league and be in position to host a home playoff game. But Ca- marena has even higher goals for his group. “Our expectations are the same. We want to play well enough to put us in the top 10 in the rankings. That is going to be our goal. We want to play with that confi dence, and so far, I’m impressed with what I have seen,” Camarena said. KEIZERTIMES/Matt Rawlings Elio Carella (left) gains possesion of the ball and then fakes out a defender during a intersquad scrimmage on Friday, Aug. 23.
