By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
SALEM, Ore.– The McNary softball team just needed one inning to put away their first Central Valley Conference victory of the season Monday evening at Sprague High School.
Leading 5-3 going into the fifth inning, it was shaping up to be one of those down-to-the-wire games until the Celtics turned on the bats one more and produced runs as a result. Six hits, including a Josalyn Netzel two-run home run, the Celtics led 10-3 on Sprague by the time that the inning had concluded.
It was just another day at the ballpark for McNary. Their early games, when they jumped out to a 4-0 start to the season, showed them as a program that they’re able to do as a team. Their tough stretch against Tualatin, Forest Grove and Ridgeview at the beginning of April before righting the ship since April 8 showed the Celts about perseverance and confidence within themselves entering the second half of the season and the CVC league season.
“It was really huge, our confidence went up, and that was really big for this game. I’m so proud of this team right now, we keep building that momentum, and our confidence is just through the rook right now, and it’s great,” said Netzel. “Those early games (of the season) really showed us what our bats are capable of doing. Those first few games we really showed out on the bats and stuff and those couple of games that we lost, it showed us that we need to stay confident in ourselves and we got to keep the energy up.”
That fifth inning for McNary proved to be the difference maker in Monday’s game in what would be a 10-4 Celtic victory in the first league meeting between the two squads.
Kaylee Lundeen hit a solo home run in the first inning that had the Olympians ahead initially 1-0 before McNary’s first five-run innings that happened in the third inning. Sprague responded, cutting it to 5-3 that half inning, Brooklyn Bakke hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the third inning that had the Olys within reach going into the fourth inning before the Celtics used that fifth inning rally to pull away for good.
“It felt good starting up. We had a high there at first. It shows how great we can be, and we’re going to keep going up,” said Lundeen. “Just keep putting pressure on the team and keep hitting, like our whole team keeps hitting and tough D and backing our pitcher up.”
Sprague travels to South Salem in a Central Valley Conference game on Wednesday before hosting McKay in a non-league game on Friday. McNary travels to Sandy on Wednesday for a non-league game before hosting West Salem on Friday for their second CVC game of the season.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
