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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 20, 2020)
PAGE A10, KEIZERTIMES, NOVEMBER 20, 2020 TRADE ASSIST AVAILABLE ON MOST UNITS 3555 River Rd N, Keizer (503) 463- 4853 BUILT FOR THE HOLIDAYS SALES EVENT 2020 EDGE, ESCAPE, EXPLORER, EXPLORER HYBRID, EXPEDITION, F-150, FUSION (gas) , and RANGER! 0% APR x 60 mo. * PLUS skylineforddirect.com * on 2020 EDGE, EXPLORER, ESCAPE, and EXPEDITION NO PAYMENTS 90 days * *Must trade 95 or newer, Must finance with Ford Credit, Not all buyers will be approved. On approved credit. Plus license, tax, title & doc. fee. Art for illustration only. Offer ends 1/4/21. KEIZERTIMES.COM First but not last Firsts are important be- cause they’re often the begin- nings of lifelong endeavors. I recently refl ected on some of my fi shing fi rsts and how they lead to more adventures. The fi rst fi sh I ever caught was a little rainbow trout. My mom and dad had taken me along to fl y fi sh Blowout Creek that would soon emp- ty into the yet fi lled Detroit Lake. I was four years old and my mem- ory is of the eve- ning sun glaring off the water and the little fi sh wig- gling as I lift- ed him out of the little stream still attached to the fl y. Clearly no skill was involved. My dad, uncle and a few of their friends would take a yearly camping trip on opening trout fi shing week- end each April to the Little Deschutes River. When I was eight I was invited to go along on this boys-only adventure. I caught my fi rst brown trout on this trip, a 16-incher using a night crawler. So much for being a fl y fi shing purist. My fi rst salmon came two years later on the Nestucca River. My Uncle Buddy had tak- en my cousin Teri and I to try our luck catching coho salmon casting lures from the bank. I hooked and landed a 10-pounder that weekend and I knew I liked catching big fi sh. The fi rst steelhead I caught was during my freshman year of college on the Kilchis River near Tillamook. Thus fueled my passion nearly out of control but, I approached this passion with a bit of sanity and a thirst for knowledge to become a bet- ter fi sherman. All fi sherman follow the same path. First to catch lots of fi sh, then big fi sh, then lots of big fi sh, then fi nally hard- to-catch fi sh. This is the jour- ney I’ve followed. Fly fi shing for salmon and steelhead is less productive as a rule. Sum- mer steelhead are more avail- able to be caught fl y fi shing than winter steelhead because of warmer water tempera- tures. I caught my fi rst one on a fl y on the North San- tiam. I now often skate a fl y on the surface looking for a real aggressive fi sh to attack my offering. Less productive but more fulfi lling. I caught my fi rst winter steelhead using a fl y on the Nestucca River and often fi sh for them this way in late win- ter. In 2000, we made a long trip to fl y fi sh for Chinook and Coho on the west coast of Vancouver Island. This became an annual trip for many years and lots of salm- on were caught. There are still some fi rsts on my bucket list. Catching a winter steelhead swinging a fl y is at the top of the list. All these fi rsts have led to my growth as a fi sherman. Learning to improve my skills after catching that fi rst one ensures it won’t be the last. Ebbs makes it offi cial with the University of Kentucky Submitted After committing to the University of Kentucky to play softball in November 2019, McNary’s Taylor Ebbs (middle) offi cially signed with the Wildcats on Wednesday, Nov. 11. Ebbs was the 2019 Mountain Valley Conference Player of the year after batting .628 with seven homers and 60 RBIs. #9 Kevin Correia TOP 20 20 Brad Rempel/USA Today Sports Kevin Correia played for the San Francisco Giants, Pittsburgh Pirates, Minnesota Twins and Philadelphia Phillies over his 13-year MLB career. BY MATT RAWLINGS Of the Keizertimes At #9 on the Keizertimes list of the top 20 Volcanoes players of all time is Kev- in Correia, a right-hand- ed pitcher from San Diego, CA. who played in the big leagues for 13 seasons. After high school, Correia attended Grossmont Junior College, then transferred to Cal Poly for his fi nal three seasons of college ball. Cor- reia’s 11 wins for Cal Poly in 2002 is tied for fourth all-time in a season at the school. Correia was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the fourth round of the 2002 Major League Baseball (MLB) Draft. He debuted with the Volcanoes that sum- mer and posted a 2-2 record with a 4.54 ERA in 37.2 in- nings. He was promoted to Double-A the following sea- son where he went 6-6 with a 3.65 ERA in 14 starts. Later on in the 2003 sea- son, Correia was moved up from Double-A to Triple-A with the Fresno Grizzlies. In three starts, he was 1-0 with a 2.84 ERA and to go along with his 23 strikeouts. Because the Giants were struggling with injuries and depth in their pitching rota- tion, Correia got his call to the big leagues on July 10, 2003, making him the fi rst player from the 2002 draft class to reach the MLB. Correia experienced im- mediate success with the Gi- ants, going 3-1 with a 3.66 ERA in 10 games — seven of which were starts. But af- ter struggling in spring train- ing in 2004, Correia was sent back down to Triple-A. Correia split time be- tween the Triple-A and the big leagues during the 2004 and 2005 seasons before get- ting the opportunity to play his fi rst full MLB season in 2006. He was used exclu- sively out of the bullpen and posted a 2-0 record with a 3.49 ERA in 48 appearances. After spending the fi rst four months of the 2007 sea- son in the bullpen, Correia got moved up to the starting rotation. In seven starts, Cor- reia posted a 1.80 ERA over 40 innings. However, his success as a starter at the conclusion of the 2007 season did not translate to the following year as Correia went 3-8 with a 6.05 ERA over 110 innings in 2008. The Giants elected not to re-sign Cor- reia at the end of the season, making him a free agent. Before the beginning of the 2009 season, Correia signed a minor league deal with the San Diego Padres. He made the opening day roster, but struggled early in the season as his ERA rose above 5.00. However, when San Diego pitching coach Darren Balsley made tweaks to Correia’s delivery, the young righty started making some signifi cant strides in his development. After injuries sidelined the Padres two top starters Jake Peavy and Chris Young, Correia became the ace of the staff. He fi nished the sea- son with his fi rst winning record (12-11), which led the team, and had the lowest ERA on the squad among starting pitchers (3.91). He also threw a career-high of 198 innings. On Sept. 25 2009, Cor- reia threw his fi rst com- plete-game shutout against the Arizona Diamondbacks, giving up six hits and strik- ing out seven. In the offsea- son, Correia re-signed with the Padres, a one-year, $3 million deal. Early into the 2010 season, Correia experienced im- mense heartbreak when his 21-year old brother passed away after a hiking accident on May 8, 2010. “I would quit baseball right now to have him back. Nothing will be able to compare to that,” Correia said about his brother in an 2010 interview. Despite the grief he expe- Volcanoes players of all time rienced, Correia threw 145 innings and won 10 games, but the Padres just missed out on clinching the Na- tional League (NL) West di- vision title. In 2011, Correia became a free agent and inked a two- year, $8 million deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was announced as the team’s opening day starter. For the fi rst two months of the season, Correia led all of MLB in wins with eight. The following month, he was selected to his fi rst ever all-star game after having 11 starts where he gave up two earned runs or fewer. Cor- reia ended the season with a team-high in wins (12). For the third time in his career, Correia ended the season with a 12-11 record in 2012 — he also lowered his ERA to 4.21. On Aug. 19, 2012, Cor- reia made history by mak- ing a relief appearance in the Pirates 6-3, 19 inning marathon win against the St. Louis Cardinals, then turn- ing around the following day and making the start for Pittsburgh. It was the fi rst time since 1981 that a Pirates pitcher was tasked to pitch in relief, then start the next day. Correia signed with the Minnesota Twins in 2013 as a free agent, making it the fi rst time he would be pitch- ing in the American League (AL). It was a $10 million deal over two years. Although it was a poor season for the Twins, who fi nished 30 games below .500, Correia was able to earn his spot as the ace of the staff. At age 32, he was the oldest starter on the Twins roster, but he still led the team in wins (9), starts (31) and innings pitched (185.1). In 2014, Correia fell to #4 in the rotation as he saw his ERA raise to 4.94. After going 5-13, the Twins traded Correia to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Aug. 9, 2014. He was primarily used in a bull- pen role for the Dodgers for the fi nal two months of the season. The 2015 season was Cor- reia’s last in the big leagues as he bounced between three organizations in a short pe- riod of time. Correia initially signed with the Seattle Mar- iners, but he was released after he failed to make the opening day roster. Correia was then picked up by the team that drafted him, the Giants, but was only in the organization for less than two months after mak- ing six appearances with the Sacramento River Cats in Triple-A. On June 8, 2015, Correia signed a deal with the Phil- adelphia Phillies. He made fi ve appearances with the Phillies and posted a 6.56 ERA and an 0-3 record. Correia was released on July 7, 2015. Correia fi nished his career with 76 MLB wins and a 4.62 ERA. He pitched a total of 1428.2 innings and struck out 906 batters. In 2017, Correia was in- ducted into the Cal Poly Hall of Fame.
