PAGE A22, KEIZERTIMES, DECEMBER 31, 2021
TOP 10,
Continued from page A28
19-14 lead with 4:46 remaining.
With 16 seconds left in the game,
West Albany was able to get inside the
McNary 10-yard line. But for the third
time in the game, the Celtics defense
got a red zone stop as Cale threw four
straight incompletions, sealing the
Celtics win.
It was the least amount of points
given up by McNary since the 2017
season.
“It takes a special group of guys to
come together when it's tough, and the
red zone is a tough zone where every-
thing shrinks. It's one of those areas
where the tough guy wins. Luckily, we
had a lot of tough guys,” Auvinen said.
Volcanoes create Mavericks
Independent Baseball
League
After spending 23 years as an affi li-
ate of the San Francisco Giants, a new
chapter in Salem-Keizer Volcanoes
baseball arrived in the spring.
On Tuesday, Jan. 26, the organiza-
tion announced that they were creating
a new, four-team independent league
called the The Mavericks Independent
Baseball League. The league would
be facilitated by the Volcanoes with-
all games being played at Volcanoes
Stadium.
“We're excited about the new year
and we're very hopeful about the setup
we have here. We are happy to know
that we're going to be able to pro-
vide high-quality baseball this year
and beyond,” Volcanoes CEO Mickey
Walker said. “We control our own des-
tiny now, and that's something that is a
really big deal for us. We're going to be
self-sustainable, we don't need outside
organizations to play a part. We can do
this ourselves.”
The Mavericks League features
the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes, Portland
Mavericks, Salem Senators and
Campesinos de Salem-Keizer. All four
teams splayed under the Volcanoes
umbrella. The league featured top-level
undrafted and released players, as well
as high-level collegiate players and for-
mer Volcanoes players.
The Mavericks and Senators
have both played a signifi cant role
in professional baseball in the state
of Oregon. The Mavericks were the
fi rst independent team to play in the
Northwest League in the 1970s — the
Volcanoes recently bought the rights
to the Mavericks — while the Senators,
before eventually becoming the Salem
Dodgers, began playing minor league
baseball in 1940.
After months of preparation, the
Mavericks League kicked off its inau-
gural season in front of over 1,000 fans
at Volcanoes Stadium on Thursday,
May 13.
The Opening Day game saw the
Mavericks, in their fi rst contest in over
four decades, defeat the Volcanoes by a
score of 4-2.
“I want the boys to recognize after
everything that has gone on is that
playing baseball is truly a privilege,”
Mavericks manager Alan Embree said.
“This is special and it's something I
want to be a part of.”
The Campesinos ended the year
with the best regular season record,
and went on the fi rst Mavericks League
championship on Saturday, Sept. 4.
Girls' soccer team earns
playoff spot
Before the season began, the main
goal of the McNary girls' soccer team
was to qualify for the postseason, a feat
they hadn't accomplished since 2017.
On Wednesday, Oct. 20, the Celtics
made that goal a reality in their fi nal
home game of the year.
With the score tied 1-1 in the 62nd
minute, junior forward Sydnee Alfano
scored the go-ahead goal off the pass
from Maya Alston to give the Celtics
the 2-1 victory against Mountain View.
“We needed to remind ourselves of
who we are and prove that we belong
in the playoff s,” McNary head coach
Lauren Brouse said. “It was a huge win.
It's huge for the players and the pro-
gram in general.”
After McNary couldn't convert
on their fi rst six shots-on-goal in the
opening 20 minutes, Mountain View
was able to take advantage of a defen-
sive lapse by the Celtics when forward
Alicia Welker moved the ball past the
back line to get an uncontested shot by
McNary goalkeeper Hannah Ferguson,
putting the Cougars up 1-0.
However, in the opening minute of
the second half, McNary capitalized on
a golden opportunity.
After a McNary throw-in deep in
Mountain View territory, Celtics for-
ward Yasheth Arciniega Rivera was
fouled in the box trying to corral the
pass, leading to a penalty kick.
McNary captain Isabelle Gatchet
was selected to take the penalty kick,
and in the fi nal home game of her
career, the senior defender buried
a ball in the back of the net past the