Keizertimes., May 07, 2021, Page 21, Image 21

MAY 7, 2021, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A21
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Hawley pitches gem, leading McNary to victory
SPORTS
McNary freshman right-hander Carter Hawley gave up just two hits and no runs in five innings of work in McNary's 10-0 win over Dallas.
BY MATT RAWLINGS
Of the Keizertimes
Prior to their game against Dallas,
McNary head coach Larry Keeker chal-
lenged his pitching staff to work on being
more effi cient and throwing a higher per-
centage of strikes.
Carter Hawley was the one that proved
that he was up for the task.
The freshman right-hander needed just
55 pitches to get through fi ve innings, giv-
ing up no runs and two hits while striking
out fi ve as the Celtics run-ruled Dallas by a
score of 10-0 on Monday, May 3.
“Throwing 55 pitches in fi ve innings is
a really effi cient game for us. Carter defi -
nitely had the best outing he has ever had.
He has always been a good strike thrower
and today he did a really good job of being
all around the zone,” Keeker said.
Hawley said that was one of the biggest
keys for him was getting ahead in the count
early — he threw fi rst-pitch strikes to 10 of
the fi rst 11 hitters he faced.
“I knew that I needed to throw more
fi rst-pitch strikes and I was able to execute
that goal,” Hawley said.
Hawley showed that he was in the zone
right from the fi rst pitch, striking out the
fi rst three batters he faced. However, as
the game went along, Hawley relied more
on pitching to soft contact and relying on
his defense rather than attempting to over-
power the Dragons lineup — Dallas only
got one ball into the outfi eld for the entire
game.
“I felt like I got a lot of ground balls and
we were able to fi eld them cleanly and get
outs,” Hawley said. “It is easy when I have
such a good defense behind me. I have a lot
of trust in those guys.”
After putting up a goose egg in the
bottom of the fi rst, McNary scored a
pair of runs in the second inning. Trevor
Thompson and Griff en Hubbard began
the frame with sharp singles and Ben Allen
knocked them both in with a two-run dou-
ble down the left fi eld line.
The Celtics extended their lead to 7-0 in
the bottom of the third. Thompson began
the rally with an RBI-single after Dallas
gave up two free passes to begin the inning.
Hayden Kaiser would later score on a wild
pitch and Noah Fischer would knock in a
run on a sacrifi ce fl y to right fi eld.
Then, with two runners in scoring posi-
tion, McNary shortstop Gunner Smedema
walloped a two-run double to the fence in
left fi eld to give McNary the seven-run lead.
Smedema missed the beginning of
the year due to a hand injury he suff ered
during football season, but he showed, both
off ensively and defensively, that he is a cru-
cial part of the Celtics team when healthy.
“Gunner is really getting back into the
swing of things. He has more pop then you
might think. He had a nice day in the fi eld
and a nice day at the plate,” Keeker said.
“It sucked being out and not being
100 percent, but it feels great to be back,”
Smedema added.
After Hawley retired the side with three
straight ground balls in the top of the fi fth,
McNary got back on the bats in the bottom
half of the frame.
Logan Ready, Ben Allen and Jacob
Photo by MATT RAWLINGS of Keizertimes
Allen all started the innings with hard-hit
singles. Moments later, an RBI-bloop sin-
gle from Eben Mayer made the score 8-0.
Aaron Nease and Kaiser each drew bas-
es-loaded walks to score the ninth and 10th
runs, eff ectively ending the contest.
“I liked the fact that we didn't swing at a
lot of bad pitches today. Our off ensive pro-
duction up and down the lineup was pretty
good,” Keeker said.
McNary returns home on Friday, May 7
to take on Crescent Valley at 5 p.m.
McNary senior Griffen Hubbard rounds third and heads in to score in the bottom of the
second inning.
Photo by MATT RAWLINGS of Keizertimes