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PAGE A10, KEIZERTIMES, JULY 24, 2020 KEIZERTIMES.COM MYB squad victorious in summer opener BY MATT RAWLINGS Of the Keizertimes The summer of 2020 has been unusual to say the least due to COVID-19. But on a perfect July eve- ning at Keizer Little League Park, a small sense of normal- cy was restored. Baseball was back. In their fi rst game of the year, the McNary Youth Baseball (MYB) senior na- tional team defeated Oregon City 12-6 on Thursday, July 16. However, the end result wasn’t the highlight of the night for this Celtics squad, it was the ability to, once again, play the sport they love. “We got to be out playing baseball again. That was the biggest thing. It didn’t mat- ter to our kids who we were facing, they were just excited to play again,” said Rob Tav- ares, the head coach for the MYB senior national team. “I feel like this whole process has really changed all of our perspectives on being appre- ciative of what we have.” McNary starting pitcher Andrew Hammond looked to be in midseason form in his fi rst outing, retiring the side with two strikeouts in the top of the fi rst. In the bottom half of the frame, Drew Zeller reached base with a bloop single to right fi eld. After Zeller stole second, Logan Hendrick- son knocked him in with an RBI-double left center fi eld. Jack Tavares soon followed with an RBI-single to left fi eld. The Celtics wound up getting two more across the plate in the inning thanks to a hit-batsman and fi elder’s choice — both coming with the bases loaded — increasing the lead to 4-0. “I think we were a little rusty in the beginning, but I felt like our kids got their groove back pretty quickly,” Tavares said. “We have a great group of guys that are always willing to learn.” Hammond retired the next two hitters he faced in the top of the second before getting replaced by Riley Castillo, who forced the next hitter to groundout. McNary continued their hot hitting in the bottom of the second. After Hammond and Daniel Cooper drew two-out walks, Castillo lined an RBI-single into left fi eld to make the score 5-0. Zeller then cleared the bases by scalding a ball to the base of the fence in left center for a two-run triple, extend- ing the Celtics advantage to 7-0. “As a program, we put more of an emphasis on hit- ting, which has really worked out in our favor,” Tavares said. “It was good to see a lot of our kids fi nd some gaps.” A pair of free passes and an error allowed Oregon City to score their fi rst run of the game in the top of the third. But even though the Pio- neers were threatening to do further damage with runners on second and third, Hen- drickson made an impressive backhanded stop on a hot shot down the fi rst base line and touched the bag to end the inning. McNary responded with a pair of runs in the bottom half to make the score 9-1. With a comfortable lead, Tavares wanted to give some different kids chances on the mound and in new positions. “We had guys that were brand new to playing on the big fi eld,” Tavares said. “We wanted to experiment with kids on the mound and in different positions. It was fun, though. It had more of a fall KEIZERTIMES/Matt Rawlings KEIZERTIMES/Matt Rawlings After knocking in the fi rst run of the game, Logan Hendrickson crossed the plate moments later in the Celtics 12-6 victory over Oregon City on Thursday, July 16. ball feel to it.” Oregon City got a cou- ple runs back in the top of the fourth, but McNary re- sponded with three runs of their own to go up 12-3. The Pioneers then pushed three runs across in the top of the fi fth to make the score more respectable. Because of the coronavi- rus, coaches had players take health and safety precautions all throughout the contest. The MYB program bought temporal scanners to test kids for a fever before they entered the dugout. Masks were required to be worn by coaches and kids when they weren’t on the fi eld and fans were asked to practice social distancing. Handshakes and high-fi ves were also prohibited. “We wanted to be safe and enjoy playing baseball and in order to do that, we had to take precautions,” Tavares said. Riley Castillo hits a sharp ground ball back up the middle. BARGAINS OF THE MONTH ® M emorial C enters ◆ C remation & B urial Folding Side Table, 16.99 Rayovac® 24 pk. AA or AAA Alkaline Batteries T 242 965, 964, 963, 967 B3 Simplicity - Convenience - Low Cost E 182 538, 540 B10 SAVE $40 49.99 -2.00 Four Seasons Courtyard® XL Zero Gravity Chair T 242 961 3 Red shown. Also available in Blue, Gray, Tan. MAIL-IN REBATE YOUR CHOICE 7.99 8.99 YOUR CHOICE Ball® 12 pk. Reg. Mouth / 2 pt. or 1 pt. Mason Jars 1 W 111 559 1, W 501 163 1 simple cremation simple direct burial church funeral ◆ $795 ◆ $995 ◆ $2965 Raid® 2 pk., 14 oz. Wasp Killer or 2 pk., 17.5 oz. 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