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.