McNary first baseman Erik Sorenson hits a hard grounder up the middle in the Celtics 8-0 loss to West Albany on Wednesday, July 3 (KEIZERTIMES/Matt Rawlings).
McNary’s D2 summer league squad couldn’t keep up with West Albany as the Celtics fell 8-0 to the Bulldogs on Wednesday July, 3.
Griffen Hubbard got off to a rough start on the mound for the Celtics giving up three walks and an RBI single in the bottom of the first as West Albany jumped out to a 3-0 lead.
Hubbard seemed to calm down in the bottom of the second as he was able to get through the frame with relative ease.
But with two outs in the bottom of the third, Hubbard surrendered a two-run homer as West Albany upped their lead to 5-0.
Earlier in the frame, Eben Mayer was the first Celtic to reach scoring position. After reaching on an error, he advanced to third on a wild pickoff attempt from the West Albany pitcher. But Mayer was left stranded on third as Easton Hughes flew out to left field to end the threat.
Bo Bielby had the first hit for McNary in the top of the fourth when his pop-up to shallow center field ended up falling for a base-knock. Bielby stole second moments later, but got too greedy and was thrown out trying to steal third later in the inning.
Bielby then replaced Hubbard on the hill in the bottom of the fourth. He retired the side in order in his first inning of work, but Bielby gave up a pair of RBI hits in the bottom of the fifth, plus another run in the bottom of the sixth, allowing West Albany to extend their lead to 8-0.
The only time McNary had multiple runners reach base in an inning was in the top of the seventh. Hubbard reached on an error from the West Albany first baseman. After a pair of fly-outs, Logan Martinez singled to right field to keep the game going.
Hubbard, however, got caught between second and third on a base-running error and was tagged out to end the game.
McNary’s D2 squad goes on the road on Monday, July 15 to take on Tualatin at 6 p.m.
