The Lady Celts went into South Salem on Tuesday with a chance to avenge an earlier loss and extend their win streak to four games. And with the 6-0 win, they did both.
McNary (16-5, 9-1) entered the game as the No. 11 OSAA-ranked 6A team. South Salem (14-5, 6-3) came in as No. 6.
Tuesday’s win might not shake up the rankings to any grand degree — McNary now sits at No. 9 and South Salem at 11— but it gives the Lady Celts a two-game cushion at the top of the Central Valley Conference, and the tie-breaker over the Saxons after taking the season series 2-1.
Things started early for McNary on Tuesday, scoring three runs in the first inning before adding another three in the fourth.
Senior Heather Ebner was 2-for-3 with 2 RBIs, while a pair of freshmen had three-hit games for McNary.
Natalie Macik went 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored, and Violet Siegel went 3-for-4 with a run scored.
McNary had 12 hits on the day. They tallied just four in the 7-0 loss to South Salem on April 25.
In that loss, it was a six-run fifth inning from South Salem that broke things open, despite only three of the seven runs being earned.
Tuesday, South’s best chance came once again in the fifth inning when they loaded the bases with two outs. But McNary starting pitcher Lacey Vasas worked her way out of trouble, inducing a ground out to get out of the inning.
There were only two other times South Salem managed to get two runners on base. Both times came with one out, and both times they came up empty handed.
Vasas went the full seven innings, allowing five hits and walking five while striking out two.
This is the third time this season McNary has won four games in a row. Four is where the streak ended the previous two times.
With four games left in the season they have a chance to double that streak, but they’ll need to win five games in a row in the postseason if they want to cap this year off with a state championship.