B
Section B
S PORTS
South Lane County Sports and Recreation
Contact Sports, 942-3325 or e-mail sports@cgsentinel.com
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
Above: Portland State receiver Alex Toureen retained a year of eligibility when the NCAA granted him a medical-hardship
waiver last October. The Vikings began spring practices yesterday. (photo courtesy of PSU Athletic Department)
Right: Toureen ('11) starred in several sports while at Cottage Grove, including track and fi eld. (fi le photo)
The Toureen Legacy
CGHS alum represents more
than his records
BY MATT HOLLANDER
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
I
n the history of Cottage Grove High
School athletics, 2011 graduate Alex Tou-
reen represents one of the highest standards of
excellence. His statistics were unfathomable
and his abilities were breathtaking.
By grace, he has one more chapter to write
in his book as a receiver at Portland State Uni-
versity. But his status as a NCAA Division I
athlete, along with his high-school records and
highlights, only tell part of the story.
In many ways, his legacy was written when
the scoreboards were turned off, and those are
the stories that continue to reverberate.
“Every year we have a conversation with the
kids about Alex, and it has nothing to do with
what he did on the fi eld,” said football coach
Gary Roberts.
When Roberts took over the program in
2008, Toureen was a talented but strong-head-
ed freshman, and it was a long time before
they saw eye-to-eye.
“I’ll never forget my fi rst meeting with
Alex,” said Roberts,” because he told me, ‘I
don’t want to be coached. Just leave me alone
and let me play.’ And obviously, that attitude
fl ew in the face of everything I believed.”
Roberts said their relationship eventually
became so strained he was sure that one of
them would have to leave the program. But
over their fi nal two years, Roberts said Tou-
reen took steps off of the fi eld that allowed
him to become everything Roberts “thought
and hoped” he could.
Had he never stepped on the gridiron, Tou-
reen could still have gone down as one of the
best, if not the most, versatile athletes in re-
cent school history.
For track and fi eld coach Ricky Knutson,
Toureen presented the type of problem that
every coach dreams of: trying to fi gure out
which event to put him in.
“Alex had a tremendous amount of lower-
body strength, and that converted to speed
and explosiveness,” Knutson said. “He was a
natural fi t in sprints and jumps, but he wasn’t
a huge fan of the running events. So, he tried
more fi eld events.”
At the district track and fi eld champion-
ships his senior year, Toureen led the Lions to
a team title by winning individual titles in the
shot put, high jump and long jump; he missed
winning the triple jump by one inch.
The following weekend at the state meet, he
placed second in the high jump and shot put
— despite just starting to throw that season
— and third in the long jump.
Cottage Grove slips Lions turn
at Stayton Tourney slow start
into rout
Lions struggle to maintain momentum
through second spring-break tournament
BY MATT HOLLANDER
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
J
ust days after completing a three-game sweep of the Sa-
lem-Keizer Volcanoes Tournament, in which their run dif-
ferential was 59-5, the Lions came back to Earth with a 1-2
record at last week’s Stayton Tournament.
On Wednesday, host Stayton defeated Cottage Grove 4-1.
Vance Lindemann struck out six in a complete-game three-
hitter to lead the Eagles to the victory. Matt Watson also went
2-for-3 for Stayton. Payton Presley went 2-for-3 for Cottage
Grove, and Lucas Ward drove in Brett Ollivant with a fi elder’s
choice for the Lions’ run. Cottage Grove’s pitchers walked eight
in the loss.
Cottage Grove coach Dan Geiszler said that Lindemann was
the best pitcher they had seen all season, but he still thought it
was a winnable game.
The Lions rebounded from their fi rst loss of the season with a
stronger outing against Blanchet Catholic on Thursday but still
came up short, 5-4.
Cottage Grove held a 4-2 lead late in the game when the
Cavaliers scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth to beat
the Lions.
Cottage Grove fi nished the week with a 7-5 win over Junction
City on Friday. Hunter Harris’ two-run home run in the third
inning was the difference for the Lions against the Tigers. Ward
was also 2-for-4 with a double and a run for Cottage Grove.
Bryon Brown doubled and scored a run for Junction City.
Coming off a dominant showing at the Volcanoes Tourna-
ment, Geiszler said he was a bit surprised that the team didn’t
play better at Stayton. But he also said that the lack of competi-
tion at the former tournament, along with a very limited prac-
tice schedule in between games, might have contributed to their
drop off.
Please see Baseball, Page 2B
Please see Toureen, Page 2B
Athlete of the Week: Taylor Sayles
BY MATT HOLLANDER
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
I
t took a while for the Lions
to fi nd a groove against the
visiting Reedsport Braves last
Wednesday. But six runs in the
fi fth inning allowed them to pull
away for an 8-2 victory — their
third straight to start the season.
“I thought the girls rallied
well and came back for a good
win,” said coach Cheryl Frieze.
“It took them a while to get into
the game mentally, but they re-
covered and showed some resil-
ience.”
Cottage Grove led 2-0 through
three innings, but Reedsport
scored two runs in the top of the
fourth to pull even. So, when
Liz Wiltse stepped to the plate
to start the bottom of the fi fth,
she knew she had to get her
team going. Facing a full count,
Wiltse got on base with a deep
shot to center fi eld; she later
scored off of a single by Kam-
ryn Ortloff.
Wiltse’s hit sparked an ava-
lanche of offense for the Lions.
In fact, their bats were so hot
that Wiltse came up again be-
fore the Braves could close out
the inning.
“It’s always a concern that
you’ll be in for a tough battle,
especially when you’ve strug-
photo by Matt Hollander
Cottage Grove's Taylor Sayles threw three strikeouts in the fi nal two innings of the
Lions' 8-2 win over Reedsport. For the week, Sayles threw nine strikeouts in eight in-
nings and went 5-for-9 at the plate.
gled through the fi rst few in-
nings,” Wiltse said. “It was a
pivotal point for the team, and
it’s a good feeling when you can
get some momentum going. It
reminds you that we all feed off
of each other.”
Once they got going, sev-
eral Lions turned in outstand-
ing days at the plate. Kassidy
Whisler went 3-for-4 with four
RBIs to pace the team. Amanda
Anderson also had two hits and
two RBIs, and Taylor Sales, Ka-
lea Galbreath and Ortloff all had
two hits each.
In her fi rst appearance of the
year, Lindsey Clarke struck out
two in fi ve innings. One of those
strikeouts came with two outs
and the bases loaded in the sec-
ond inning.
“It was very crucial to end
that inning when we did,” Frieze
said. “A base hit could have
scored two runs, and that would
have changed the entire game.”
Sayles threw three strikeouts
in the sixth and seventh innings
to close the game.
The Lions were originally
scheduled to play at the North
Marion Tournament; however,
when that was canceled they
had to scramble to schedule
Reedsport. Frieze said that ad-
justment, along with the typi-
cal struggles with focus during
Spring Break, contributed to the
slow start. She also said that the
Please see Softball, Page 2B