PAGE A22, KEIZERTIMES, MAY 7, 2021
Big first inning gives Celts convincing win
Kaylee Schwab drives a hard ground ball down the third base line in McNary's 13-3 win over West Albany.
BY MATT RAWLINGS
Of the Keizertimes
McNary softball coach Kevin Wise
admitted that his team didn't give their
best performance against West Albany.
For a team that didn't play their best,
the Celtics put together another domi-
nant performance on Wednesday, April
28.
Shaylee Custer went 3-for-3 with
a double while Taylor Ebbs and Kate
Ronning each had two hits and three
RBIs as the Celtics got their fourth
straight run-rule victory, defeating pre-
viously unbeaten West Albany 13-3.
“I think the dominance comes from
just relying on each other. It is never
just one person,” Ronning said. “It
comes from a lot of teamwork.”
“These girls are to the point now
where they just don't want to beat
people. They want to hand it to them,”
Wise added. “We don't want to play
around. We want to 10-run teams. That
is the mentality we have.”
The Celtics wasted no time getting
the bats going, scoring seven runs in
the bottom of the first inning. Ebbs got
the frame started with an opposite-field
double to left field and advanced to
third on a wild pitch. After Abbi Covalt
reached on a free pass, Ebbs was able
to score when a throw to second base
to try and catch Covalt stealing sailed
into the outfield.
West Albany got two outs in the
frame with the Celtics just pushing one
run across, but a rally by the bottom
half of the order kept the inning going.
After Covalt scored on a wild pitch,
Kaylee Schwab and Lacey Vasas hit
back-to-back singles to keep the threat
going. Freshman third baseman Ali
Martinez soon followed with a two-run
Photo by MATT RAWLINGS of Keizertimes
single up the middle to put McNary on
top 4-0.
“It was so big to get that energy
right at the beginning. One of our big-
gest goals for the game was jumping
on them early,” Ronning said.
An RBI infield-single from KJ
Custer made it 5-0 and brought back
up the top of the order. The next bat-
ter, Ebbs, came up with her second hit
of the inning, a two-run single up the
middle to extend the Celtics lead to 7-0.
“We talked about coming out and
getting on them early and they did it.
They executed, and it set the tone,”
Wise said. “It is hard to come back
from seven down.”
Vasas got the start in the circle
and was nearly perfect through two
innings. But in the top of the third, after
giving up a two-out double, she surren-
dered an unearned run when Ronning,
Caption It!
L AST WEEK’S
WINNER
the shortstop, and right fielder Shaylee
Custer, collided on a pop fly, allowing
the ball to fall to the grass.
Despite having a 7-1 lead, the Celtics
came back to the dugout determined to
atone for their error.
“When someone got down or made
a mistake, someone else stepped up
and picked them right back up. That is
what makes a difference,” Wise said. “I
have had teams in the past where they
deflate if they make a mistake. These
girls are like 'okay, that sucked, we are
going to get it back.'”
A one-out triple by Custer put the
Celtics in business in the bottom of the
third, which was followed by an RBI-
double of the center field wall by her
sister, KJ.
“KJ in any other lineup is not a
nine-hitter. But it works really well for
us because she is so fast. It is like we
have another leadoff batter in the nine-
hole,” Wise said.
McNary went up 9-1 later in the
frame thanks to an infield single by
Ronning, allowing KJ Custer to score
from third.
Schwab led off the bottom of the
fourth with a single to left field and got
to third on an error. After a sacrifice fly
to right field by Vasas, back-to-back
singles and a free pass left the bases
loaded for Ebbs, who delivered an RBI-
groundout to put the lead at 11-1.
Moments later, Covalt got hit with
a pitch to allow the Celtics to pack the
bags once again, and Ronning took
advantage with a two-out, two-run dou-
ble to right field.
West Albany was able to string
together a threat in the top of the fifth
thanks to an error, a walk and a bunt
single. With the bases loaded and two
outs, Vasas surrendered a double that
scored two runs.
West Albany head coach Ryan
Borde, who was coaching third base,
sent the runner from first to try to
By STEVE BREEN
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