PAGE A12, KEIZERTIMES, APRIL 10, 2020
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KEIZERTIMES.COM
COVID-19 shakes up Cepeda’s softball plans
BY MATT RAWLINGS
for sports and activities for all
Of the Keizertimes
member schools until March
It was a highlight year for 31 — which has since been
McNary softball player Alexa moved to April 28.
Cepeda in 2019.
“My world just explod-
In her junior season, ed. Nobody could have ever
Cepeda was named fi rst- prepared for this,” Cepeda
team all-state thanks to said. “I had big goals for my
batting .495, with 48 runs senior year and plans of play-
scored, 10 doubles and hav- ing for the Puerto Rican Ju-
ing an on-base percentage of nior National Team, and they
all came crashing down.”
.560.
Cepeda and the McNary
In November, Cepeda
also signed on to continue softball team came into the
her softball career at Portland 2020 season with a lot to
look forward
State Univer-
too.
sity.
In 2019, the
But as she “ My world
Celtics won
was
gear- just exploded.
13 of their
ing up for
last 15 games
the
2020 Nobody could
of the season
season,
the have prepared
and won the
spread of the
2019 Moun-
C OV I D - 1 9 for this.”
tain
Valley
virus turned
— Alexa Cepeda, C o n f e r e n c e
Cepeda’s plans
McNary outfi elder
title. McNary
upside down.
returned eight
On March
of the nine
12, Cepeda
was traveling to Florida to starters from last year’s team,
try out for the Puerto Rico as well as a slew of fresh-
Junior Olympic Team, but man that would compete for
when her fl ight landed, she playing time.
But as it stands now, it’s
was informed that the tryout
had been canceled due to safe to assume that there
likely won’t be a spring
the coronavirus.
The following day, the sports season this year.
“My heart is breaking for
OSAA announced that they
were suspending interscho- Alexa. She is an exception-
lastic practices and contests al young lady who is super
File
Alexa Cepeda smiles as she walks off the fi eld after McNary defeated North Medford 5-4 in the fi rst round of the 2019 OSAA
Playoffs. Cepeda will be playing at Portland State in 2021, but it’s likely that she will miss her senior season due to the coronavirus.
talented and smart and she
sets an example for this team
both on and off the fi eld,”
said McNary head coach
Kevin Wise.
Through the hard times
and uncertainty that the
COVID-19
virus
has
brought, Cepeda appreciates
that her high school coach is
always there for her.
“Coach Wise and his wife,
Deb, have shown the biggest
support for me personally, as
well as the team as a whole.
It’s great to be reminded that
I’m not in this alone,” Cepe-
da said.
For the last two years,
Cepeda has gotten the
chance to play with Nadia
Witt and Faith Danner, a pair
of senior leaders for McNary
that have since gone on to
play college softball.
While Cepeda has played
with a quiet confi dence for
the fi rst three years of her ca-
reer, she was looking forward
to being a more vocal pres-
ence this year and stepping
into a leadership role as the
only senior on the McNary
team.
“I wanted to be the best
leader I could be for the
underclassmen. I was really
looking forward to doing
that and helping some of our
younger girls learn,” Cepeda
said.
Wise added: “She has
Please see CEPEDA, Page A11
Steelheaders can be dead serious
by G.I. Wilson
File
McNary’s Dyami Rios runs the anchor leg of the boys 4X100 relay at a meet from last season.
OSAA preparing for
different scenarios
By MATT RAWLINGS
Of the Keizertimes
After meeting virtually on
Wednesday, April 1, the exec-
utive board for the OSAA de-
cided to maintain the current
suspension for OSAA spring
sports and activities until April
28.
“We’re hoping to get a little
more information before we
make our fi nal decision,” said
OSAA Executive Director Pe-
ter Weber.
On March 18, instead of
cancelling the season due to
the spread of COVID-19, the
OSAA decided to suspend the
season until April 28. The de-
cision came a day after Gov.
Kate Brown closed all state
schools until April 28.
Last week, the Oregon
Department of Education
shared that students might
not be returning to class-
rooms this school year due to
COVID-19, and that districts
will need to be preparing vir-
tual learning tools for school-
work outside of the classroom.
If schools do indeed remain
closed for the remainder of
the school year, it’s more than
likely that the OSAA will fol-
low suit.
“Right now the philoso-
phy of the board is that as long
as classrooms are closed, we
shouldn’t be holding practices
or competition,” Weber said.
However, the OSAA is still
preparing for a scenario where
an abbreviated spring sports
season would take place.
Members of the OSAA
staff have been working with
Dr. Mick Koester, the chief
medical advisor and chair of
the OSAA’s Sports Medicine
Advisory Committee, to pro-
mote and develop guidelines
that would emphasize athlete
safety if teams are able to re-
convene in May.
There would be an initial
seven-day period with no
contests, only practices, and
those practices would be lim-
ited to no more than three
hours in length. There would
also be an emphasis on late
start times and weekend com-
petitions to limit loss of class
time.
“We want to make sure that
our athletes are safe if they
come back. We’re not going to
try and jam stuff in to make
up for lost time,” Weber said.
One of the points of dis-
cussion was the possibility
of moving spring sports and
Please see OSAA, Page A10
It is a cold December day on the Nestucca
River. Twenty to 25 drift fi shermen, in cold
weather gear and insulated hip boots, line the
gravel bar below the mouth of Three Rivers.
Skilled drifters cast and retrieve with a
synchronized ebb and fl ow that would make
a Broadway dance choreographer glow. Cast
and retrieve in unison and few tangles oc-
cur. Cast out of sequence a few times and it
would be a good idea to quietly slink away to
a safer place to fi sh. Could be a little intim-
idating hearing your ancestors described in
colorful language not to be heard by women
or children.
Winter steelhead are returning in record
numbers. This is the peak of the hatchery
run. Millions of smoldts are being released
yearly. The Nestucca has been the top river
for steelhead production for several years in
a row. State hatcheries are adequately funded
and running at capacity.
This is long before anti-hatchery groups
began a program to convince state leaders
fi sh hatcheries are far worse than coal burn-
ing plants and pipelines.
A river guide arrives in a wooden drift-
boat after a half day fl oat. He has to come
ashore on this gravel bar.
He has to bring the craft in and inter-
rupt the casting cycle. Two reluctant anglers
grudgingly wave him in, grab the heavy
boat and slide it partially onto the gravel and
promptly return to casting.
A passenger, feeling somewhat uncom-
fortable for the interruption, smiles weakly
and offers greetings. She notices a beautiful
7-8 pound steelhead on the bank.
“What a beauty. Who got that one?” she
gushes.
“Guy landed that fi sh, dropped dead in his
tracks,” a big, bearded guy mutters. “Hauled
‘em away in the ambulance.”
“Who gets the fi sh?” the stunned boater
asks timidly.
“Guess the guy he came with,” a second
angler offers, jumping into the conversation.
“Tall skinny guy down there with a fur hat.
He ain’t leaving till he gets his limit.”
“We are dead serious about these winter
steelhead,” giggles a heavy guy as he fi nished
his second Blitz. “Had my limit before 8:00.
Got to wait for my buddy to get his limit
now.”
Guide Jim Johnson has one client on an-
other December trip down the Nestucca
River. Today he decides to fl oat from Bridge
One to Cloverdale.
They fl oat past the usual crowd at Three
Rivers. About a quarter mile downriver,
the client suddenly has an urgent “call from
Mother Nature.”
Johnson rows to shore and the guy makes
a dash to the bushes. He comes back to the
boat, steps one foot into the boat and drops
dead.
Obviously, Johnson is not only badly shak-
en, but has a major problem on his hands.
It is over an hour fl oat to Cloverdale and a
quarter-mile hike back to the Three Rivers
parking lot.
Since Al Gore hasn’t invented the cell
phone yet, Johnson has to leave the body and
make the hike, fl ag down a vehicle and drive
to the nearest telephone. “My client just
stepped one foot in the boat and just checked
out,” a shaken Johnson blurted. “I mean, he
was stone dead.”
Firemen and paramedics return to carry
the corpse back to the parking lot.
This is the big news of the day at the local
watering hole. All the locals are eager to hear
the details and have some fun at Johnson’s
expense.
“Old boy just checked out right there
in mid-step,” Johnson stammers. “Dropped
stone dead.”
“Was it a full day, or half day trip?” a gig-
gling barmaid asks.
“Had he paid you?” comes from another
local, struggling not to laugh.
“I can just see the headlines ‘Local Guide
Deadly on Steelhead.”