PAGE A22, KEIZERTIMES, MAY 28, 2021
McNary splits doubleheader to conclude season
BY MATT RAWLINGS
Of the Keizertimes
On their final day of the regular sea-
son, the McNary baseball team split their
doubleheader with Summit and Mountain
View. The Celtics defeated Summit in
game one thanks to a walkoff single in
extra innings by Zane Aicher, but fell to
Mountain View 13-7 in game two.
In the first game, Summit took a 2-0
lead in the top of the first thanks to four
straight singles, but the Celtics answered
back in the bottom half of the frame on an
RBI-single from Gunner Smedema, scor-
ing Eben Mayer from second.
After Summit put up another run in
the top of the second, McNary tied the
game in the bottom half on an impres-
sive two-out rally. Dante Olivo started
the threat with a seeing-eye single to
right field, which was followed by a walk
from Mayer. Olivo came home on an RBI-
single by Aicher while Mayer scored on
an error to tie the score at 3-3.
McNary took their first lead the follow-
ing inning on a bases-loaded walk from
Olivo.
Olivo, who was the starting pitcher for
McNary, didn't have his best day on the
bump, pitching 3.0+ innings and giving
up seven hits and four runs. But his team-
mate, Hayden Kaiser, picked up the slack
for him over the course of the next four
frames as the big lefty gave up just three
hits and no runs during his four-inning
outing.
“Hayden has been a solid two or three
inning guy for us, but today we got a lit-
tle bit extra out of him,” Keeker said. “His
ball was moving really well today, and
that can make him tough to beat. Getting
that deep in the game really helped us.”
McNary had multiple runners in
scoring position in the fifth and seventh
frames, but couldn't push one across as
the game went into extra innings.
Keeker brought in Mayer, McNary's
best reliever, in the top of the eighth
Eben Mayer prepares to head down the line after hitting the ball to left field.
inning and the junior right-hander did
not disappoint, retiring all nine batters he
faced.
“Eben was a bulldog today. He has
been a bulldog all year on the mound and
he comes into messy situations a lot,”
Keeker said. “He can throw his off-speed
pitch in any count that he wants to, which
makes him that much more effective.”
After being shut out for six straight
innings, Keeker elected for freshman
Trevor Ratliff to pinch-hit in the bottom
of the 10th. The managerial move couldn't
have worked out better as Ratliff led off
the frame with a double to left field.
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