PAGE A26, KEIZERTIMES, DECEMBER 31, 2021
TOP 10,
Continued from page A25
Copeland named MVC Player
of the Year
The McNary football squad received
16 all-conference spots for the 2021 sea-
son, with the top honor going to Celtics
senior quarterback Tyler Copeland.
Despite missing a game and play-
ing half the season with a high-an-
kle sprain, Copeland was named the
Mountain Valley Conference Player of
the Year after throwing for 1,757 yards
KLL under new management
At their meeting on Monday, Nov.
15, the Keizer City Council unani-
mously agreed to grant the manage-
ment of Keizer Little League to For the
Love of the Game, a nonprofi t run by
Mavericks League owners Jerry and
Lisa Walker, plus their son, Mickey.
The contract is for 10 years, with For
the Love of the Game's performance
being evaluated every two years by the
Keizer city manager.
“We have some really big visions of
what we want to do with the complex,
improvements we want to make to not
only the fi elds but to the area itself,
and hopefully that will directly ben-
efi t baseball and softball in this com-
munity,” said Mavericks League CEO
Mickey Walker.
Some of those big visions include
bringing turf to the facility and making
the park accessible for other sports.
“Turf is obviously a big thing that
we want to have, that is something we
would love to be able to accomplish.
It's just a long-term plan, not a one-to-
three-year process,” Walker said. “Not
only could it benefi t baseball and soft-
ball, we hope that we can develop it in
a way to help other sports, like soccer
or lacrosse.”
Keizer Mayor Cathy Clark, who has
been a cheerleader of the nonprofi t for
months, expressed pleasure in For the
Love of the Game managing the com-
plex, and criticized the way the park
has been run in the past.
“Over the last 10 years we have
seen there have been some inconsis-
tencies, and that has not served the
players well,” Clark said. “I'm excited
to bring on professional management
of the facility that will allow parents to
watch their kids play instead of serving
and 22 touchdowns — Copeland also
received an honorable mention nod as
a safety.
“The hard work has paid off . The
Lord has blessed me through this pro-
cess. I couldn’t have done any of it
without Him,” Copeland said. “This is
a team sport and my team was always
there to pick me up.”
Copeland led McNary to a 7-4 record
as well as a playoff win over North
Medford.
“You can't ask for a better compet-
itor. It's nice to have an athletic quar-
terback,” McNary head coach Jeff
Auvinen said. “I can't commend that
kid enough.”
nachos.”
Days after the Council granted man-
agement of Keizer Little Park to For the
Love of the Game, the nonprofi t offi -
cially hired Corey Paul to run the day-
to-day operations at the facility.
The Vancouver, Wash. resident will
be the lone full-time employee of For
the Love of the Game. He will oversee
scheduling of fi elds and maintenance
of the park.
Rangers draft Zavala 38th overall
On Monday, July 12, Keizer native
and University of Oregon outfi elder
Aaron Zavala was drafted by the Texas
Rangers in the second round of the
Major League Baseball (MLB) Draft
with the 38th overall pick.
It is the third highest an Oregon
player has been drafted since the uni-
versity revamped their baseball pro-
gram in 2009.
In his junior season with the Ducks,
Zavala was named the Pac-12 Player of
the Year and was a consensus fi rst-team
All-American, batting .392 with nine
homers, 38 RBIs and 64 runs scored.
The assigned value of the pick is
just over $1.9 million.
Zavala played 22 games in his fi rst
season in the minors, batting .293 with
an a homer, nine RBIs and nine stolen
bases.