Keizertimes., May 14, 2021, Page 21, Image 21

MAY 14, 2021, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A21
got out of the jam unscathed.
However, he was not as fortunate
the following inning.
Crescent Valley led off the top
of the fi fth with a triple, which
was soon followed with an RBI-
single to put the Raiders on
top 3-1. To make matters worse,
Nease had to be taken out of the
game, after fi nishing the inning,
due to a knee injury.
Whenever McNary has
been in a pinch this season,
they have turned to Mayer, a
— NOAH FISCHER
senior with a quirky delivery
McNary third baseman
and a fi lthy slider. And once
again, Mayer stepped up for
his squad.
In the bottom of the sixth, a sacri-
Mayer's slider was too much for the
Raiders lineup to handle as the side- fi ce fl y from Ben Allen cut Crescent
arm-throwing righty only allowed one Valley's lead to 3-2. It appeared that
McNary was going to tie the game after
runner on base over three innings.
“That is my best pitch,” Mayer said Carter Hawley reached on an error by
of his slider. “I have been working on it the shortstop, but a miscommunication
all year. Having that pitch to keep hit- between Trevor Thompson, who was at
ters off balance for the whole count is second before the ball was hit, and third
base coach Jordan Keeker, resulted in
really what makes me eff ective.”
“Eben has been lights out on the Thompson being back-picked at third
mound all year. He came in and just to end the inning.
But as they entered the bottom of
competed and battled like he always
seventh trailing by a run, the Celtics
does,” Keeker added.
I have had a few
walk-off s before,
but never at the
varsity level.
It is such a
surreal feeling.
Celtics outfielder Zane Aicher dives back into first base after taking a substantial lead.
Photo by MATT RAWLINGS of Keizertimes
Dante Olivo threw 3.1 innings for the Celtics and didn't give up an earned run.
Photo by MATT RAWLINGS of Keizertimes
refused to give in. Back-to-back one-
out singles by Gunner Smedema and
Mayer began the threat. After Zane
Aicher reached on an error to load the
bases, Smedema scored on a wild pitch
moments later to tie the game.
The Celtics left the bags packed to
end the frame, putting the game into
extra innings. But after Mayer got a
1-2-3 inning in the top of the eighth,
McNary was able to push one across for
the win thanks to some clutch hitting.
In his fi rst at-bat of the game, soph-
omore Cooper Cripe leadoff the frame
with a pinch-hit single up the middle to
get things going.
“Cooper hasn't had a ton of at-bats
at the varsity level, but he stepped up
against a guy throwing in the mid-80s
and rifl ed one up the middle,” Keeker
said.
Cripe was bunted over to second
by Allen and then got to third when
Carter Hawley reached on an error by
the shortstop, which brought Fischer to
the dish.
“I am only a sophomore, but I have
been waiting for this opportunity my
whole life. I just got up there ready to
pounce on the fi rst pitch,” Fischer said.
Due to early substitutions and a late-
game injury, Crescent Valley was forced
to play the seventh and eighth innings
with only eight players in the fi eld.
While the Raiders disadvantage didn't
come into play in the seventh, it ended
up costing them on the last at-bat of the
game.
Fischer hit a high and shallow fl y
ball down the line in left fi eld. With
their normal three outfi elders, Crescent
Valley might have been able to make a
play on the ball. But since there were
only two players in the outfi eld, the ball
fell harmlessly to the grass with nobody
around, allowing Cripe to come in and
score the winning run.
“To our team's credit, they rallied
when a number of our guys went down.
It was a really bizarre game, but I am
super happy with the way the kids bat-
tled. It was truly a team eff ort,” Keeker
said.
McNary travels to Sprague for a dou-
bleheader on Saturday, May 15. The fi rst
game starts at noon.
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