McNary junior Hayden Kaiser went 3-for-4 with a pair of homers and six RBIs in the Celtics 15-11 win over South Eugene (File).
After losing four straight games, the McNary baseball got back on track on Tuesday, May 18 as they defeated South Eugene by a score of 15-11.
Hayden Kaiser led the way for the Celtics offense, going 3-for-4 with two homers, including a grand slam, and six RBIs and Cooper Cripe went 4-for-5 at the dish with three doubles. Eben Mayer and Zane Aicher each added two hits apiece.
The 15 runs scored by the Celtics matched a season high — McNary was also able to take advantage of seven errors by South Eugene.
McNary fell behind 4-0 after one inning, but got a run back in the top of the second thanks to a solo-blast by Kaiser — who also started on the mound for McNary.
South Eugene extended their lead to 5-1 in the bottom of the second, but in the top of the third, the Celtics put a five-spot on the board to take a 6-5 advantage.
After Noah Fischer reached on an error, Aicher and Gunner Smedema reached via free pass to load the bases up for Kaiser, who socked his second homer of the contest to tie the score.
Moments later, Cripe doubled to center field and was knocked in on an RBI-single by Ben Allen.
South Eugene tied the game up in the bottom of the third and scored a pair of runs in the fourth inning to retake the lead. However, the Celtics exploded for eight runs in the following frame to take a commanding 14-8 advantage.
Cripe began the inning with his second double of the contest. After Allen was hit by a pitch, Trevor Ratliff doubled to right field to score Cripe. In the next at-bat an RBI-groundout by Fischer would tie the game at 8-8.
An error, followed by an RBI-single from Aicher made the score 10-8 in favor of the Celtics. Later in the inning, Kaiser would single to left field to bring in Aicher after Mayer scored on an error on the previous play.
The Celtics would get two more runs in the inning thanks to another error, as well as a single by Cripe.
Cripe would help the Celtics get an insurance run in the top of the seventh when he brought Aicher home with his third double of the game.
Mayer would enter the game in relief in the bottom of the fourth. Even though he surrendered three runs in the bottom of the fifth, the senior closer shut out South Eugene in the sixth and the seventh to preserve the win.
McNary’s last day of the season is Friday, May 21. They will host Summit at noon then take on Mountain View at 3 p.m.