By Jeremy McDonald

jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com

SALEM, Ore.-  Noah Tavera is a busy man during this summer.

Football, summer legion with the Canyon Crushers based in Stayton, and now add in invitationals and tournaments in Nevada and in Southern California to the docket for the soon-to-be senior at McKay High school; is it too much for one person to handle?!?

Not according to Tavera.

“Everything your doing in the summer is for you to get better,” said Tavera.  “There’s tough competition, so it makes you play at a higher caliber and make you a better player overall, I’m excited for my senior season and I think good things should happen.”

Playing for the Crushers has already exposed Tavera to step up his game as he faces guys in their first or second year in college; faces guys like Cole Hamilton, who’s going to NCAA Division-II Western Oregon, Noah Boatwright and Cameron Jolly who all are going to the next level to name a few of the environment it is for him to play in.

In addition to that, the experiences he’ll learn from going to different areas to play will help him bring him skills to help teach his future teammates at McKay.

“I’m excited, it just creates a better atmosphere not just for only myself but my future teammates as my senior year goes along,” said Tavera.  “It just helps me bring back a lot of basic skills that we can go over and just learn and just help us prepare for next year.”

These experiences will also help him also become a leader on the diamond, with those who share the same dream and passion as he does for the game of baseball.

“It just helps you play with people who are same dream as you, having the same goal and doing that just  help you become better overall, help you learn qualities that other people have and you can take in, it’s just a good experience,” said Tavera on the leadership aspect of his adventures.

With kids looking to do the same thing as Tavera, go Division-I, Division-II or III, NAIA or the Junior College level, Tavera believes that he’s just as good as any of those guys.

“Yeah, as long as I put my head to it, I think I can compete as well as them,” he said.  “They’re there to do a job and hope to learn from it and get better.”