PAGE A20, KEIZERTIMES, APRIL 29, 2022
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SPORTS
By JOSHUA MANES
Of the Keizertimes
Kayelee Schwab’s eighth inning walk-
off double that brought home Ali Martinez
sealed the day for McNary softball Tuesday
against West Salem High School.
Schwab was 3-for-4 with 2 RBIs in the
4-3 win for McNary (10-3, 2-0), including
the game winner in extra innings with one
out and a runner on third.
“I honestly was like ‘I need to get a
friggin hit,’ and then I did,” Schwab said.
“And honestly I knew if I didn’t someone
behind me would have.”
Schwab only needed a ball in the air
deep enough for Martinez to tag. She sent
a 2-0 pitch over the West Salem center
fielder’s head and off the wall, leaving no
doubt that Martinez would score.
The hit was the culmination of a
quintessential small-ball inning. A lead-
off single from Martinez. Karah Miller
sacrificed her over to second with the bunt.
On the first pitch to Schwab, Martinez
stole third, her second steal of the game.
The next pitch, Schwab sent everyone
home.
It was a perfect sequence in an
otherwise sloppy game for the Celtics.
Base running mistakes and infield miscues
slightly marred the victory for head coach
Kelly Parsell.
“We didn’t look our best,” Parsell said.
“We’re a lot better in every aspect, from
energy to effort to just simple softball
skills. We’re better than that, but they
did pull through a big win and anytime
you win like that it’s something to be
celebrated.”
Things looked like they could get out
of hand early on for McNary. In the top
of the first, West Salem scored two, and
were still threatening with runners on
the corners and only one out. But starting
pitcher Lacey Vasas responded, retiring
the next two batters.
Celtic softball’s West
Salem walk-off win
Teammates mob Kayelee Schwab following her walk-off double against West Salem on Tuesday, April 26, at McNary High
School. The Celtics won 4-3, and Schwab went 3-for-4 with 2 RBIs.
Photo by JOSHUA MANES of the Keizertimes
The Celtics were outhit 12-9 in the
game, and Schwab was the only batter
with multiple hits for them. But they found
a way to grind out a victory and remain
undefeated early in league play.
Parsell wasn’t ready to celebrate yet
though, pointing out that some of the
team didn’t seem to have their “A game.”
“But that’s no excuse, especially for
a lot of those things,” Parsell said. “It's a
mental thing. We’re going to continue to
work on making sure our effort is always
100% there. Whether or not our hard skills
are there we’re going to make sure we’re
bringing everything we’ve got.”
Vasas may be one of those players that
might admit to not being on her A game.
Even though she went 8 innings, struck
out 6 and only allowed 3 runs, 2 earned,
Vasas called the game one of her worst
she’s pitched in her entire life. She did
allow 12 hits to the Titans.
“I felt angry mostly,” Vasas said. “It
wasn’t even just pitching. I had so many
errors that were just so easy to get. I just
wasn’t in it today. But I felt better having
the team behind me.”
Vasas threw 122 pitches, with a 62%
strike rate. Parsell said she thought she
was having issues with the strike zone all
day.
“I think she powered through it and
that last inning there was a strike that
wasn’t called her way and I was hoping she
would stay tough and push through and
she did,” Parsell said. “She’s a really tough
player and this is a testament to it.”
McNary has two doubleheaders to
close out the week. McCay High School
comes to town on Wednesday (results not
available at time of print), and Summit
High School makes the trip on Saturday.
Late surge from Titans topples Celtic baseball
By JOSHUA MANES
Of the Keizertimes
McNary starting pitcher Jake Allen
took a two-hitter into the sixth inning, but
two walks and a two-out, three-run home
run broke the game open for West Salem
High School on Tuesday.
The 8-3 home loss drops the Celtics to
2-3 in league play.
McNary had opportunities in the game,
but were unable to capitalize on multiple
West Salem errors.
“I felt like we could put some pressure
on them offensively, and we didn’t,”
McNary head coach Larry Keeker said. “It
kind of felt like if we are able to get some
big hits in some moments where we had
opportunities in that game, and put a little
more pressure on them, potentially it could
be different.”
The game was tied at one heading into
the top of the sixth inning. Allen’s inning
started out good, striking out the lead off
hitter. But two walks started to open the
flood gates.
With two men on and two outs, second
baseman Tyler Rock took a 2-0 pitch from
Allen deep, making the score 4-1.
The Titans added some insurance in the
seventh, scoring four more runs.
McNary just couldn’t seem to get a read
on West Salem starting pitcher Matthew
Luke.
“Kind of a slow, left-handed off-speed
guy, slip the fastball in every once in a
while, Keeker said. “We were just off time, a
lot of pop-ups today. Tried to get our guys
to make some adjustments, just couldn’t
make them today.”
McNary makes the nearly three hour
trip to Bend on Saturday for a doubleheader
against Summit High School before a week
off between games.
“As a coaching staff and as a program
we’re going to keep getting to work," Keeker
said. "We’re going to keep practicing and
keep trying to find ways to play better.
Mentally it’s been a tough year for us
because we had pretty big expectations.
We still have a lot to play for.”