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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (April 8, 2015)
B Section B S PORTS South Lane County Sports and Recreation Wednesday, April 8, 2015 Contact Sports, 942-3325 or e-mail sports@cgsentinel.com Grove wrestlers befriend Kiwis Local student-athletes host New Zealand national team BY MATT HOLLANDER The Cottage Grove Sentinel T he Cottage Grove High School wrestling program hosted a New Zealand national team last week as part of the Oregon Wrestling Association’s cultural exchange program. The Ki- wis, ages 14-19, lived, trained and competed with the Lion wrestlers from Wednesday to Friday. Their stay was highlighted by a friendly tourna- ment on Thursday night, which attracted athletes from around the county to compete in the free- style bouts. “The key of the program is cultural education,” said Cottage Grove coach Kyle Temple. “Wres- tling is just a vehicle for that opportunity.” The program is coordinated by Thurston coach Mike Simons. Two months ago, Simons ap- proached Temple, who had previously hosted a German national team while at Stayton, about fi nding host families for one leg of the New Zea- lander’s two-and-a-half week trip to the country. The Kiwis had the opportunity to see a day in the life of an American teenager while accompa- nying their host to school on Thursday and Fri- day. “It was a lot of fun to sit down and chat with them about what it’s like in New Zealand and how it’s different here,” said Cottage Grove’s Aaron Boitz, who hosted New Zealanders Alan Latham Please see Wrestling, Page 3B photo by Matt Hollander Cottage Grove's Beau Crawford and New Zealand's Kael Johnson exchange greet- ings and gifts prior to Thursday's friendly, freestyle tournament. Boys' golf team eyes league- leader Stayton Athlete of the Week: Elias Stock On Tuesday, March 31, the Li- ons boys’ golf team placed third out of eight teams in a Sky-Em League match at Santiam Golf Club. Stayton took fi rst place with a score of 373 and was fol- lowed by Junction City (375) and Cottage Grove (383). Cameron Sandoval and John- ny Conrad, who shot 87 and 88, respectively, paced the Lions. After two league matches, Cottage Grove trails Stayton by 22 strokes. Nick Russo, who has missed the fi rst part of the season due to injury, was medi- cally cleared to return and could shave 15-20 strokes off of the Lions’ team total at each of the remaining three regular season Sky-Em matches. Coach Kent Russo is hope- ful that the team will be able to make a strong run at Stayton and an automatic berth to the state tournament. Cottage Grove was scheduled to play at Diamond Woods on Tuesday and Langdon Farms on Thursday; both are Sky-Em competitions. Lions crack state’s top-10 Two Cottage Grove athletes achieved marks at Saturday’s Marist Track Classic that rank in the 4A top 10. Michael Tharpe ran 15.66 to place third in the 110 meter hurdles. His time, which was a .32 improvement on his per- sonal best, is the fi fth-fastest in the state. Hudson Weybright came up just short of victory in the girls’ 800 meters, fi nishing be- hind winner Presley Roldan of Timberline (Boise), 2:31.42 to 2:31.59. But her time is now the sixth-fastest in the state. Courtney Hammel set a per- sonal record with her second- place throw of 99-09 in the discus, which ranks one spot outside the state’s top 10. Conner Borigo won the shot put with a throw of 33-4.5. Bori- go’s personal best of 34-7.75, which she set in Thursday’s Sky-Em League meet at Junc- tion City, is the fi fth-best in the state. The Lions travel to Elmira for a Sky-Em League meet tomor- row and compete at the Spring- fi eld Rotary Invitational on Fri- day. photo by Matt Hollander Cottage Grove Elias Stock went 1-for-2, drew two walks and hit an RBI single in the seventh inning to lift the Lions past Philomath. Stock, Lions rally in the seventh against Philomath Cottage Grove wins top-10 bout on Stock’s walk-off hit BY MATT HOLLANDER The Cottage Grove Sentinel C ottage Grove’s Elias Stock de- livered in a situation that many baseball players have dreamed of. With two outs and the bases loaded in the bot- tom of the seventh inning of a tied ball game, he hit a walk-off single to right- center fi eld that scored Hunter Harris and gave the Lions a 5-4 victory over then No. 6 Philomath last Wednesday. “I wanted something good; something that I could hit,” said Stock, whose shot capped a three-run seventh inning for then No. 10 Cottage Grove. Trailing 4-2, Payton Presley started the Lions' rally with a single to left fi eld. Warriors’ pitcher Casey Croy sub- sequently walked Lucas Ward and Har- ris. With the bases loaded, Zach Thoma- son scored Presley on a single down the left-fi eld line to bring Cottage Grove within one. Up next, T.J. Bellamy hit a shot to centerfi eld, which was mishandled by Philomath’s John McGary, allowing Ward to tie the game. After Tristan Mihan was put out by Warrior shortstop Rilley Davis for the Lions' second out of the inning, Stock came to the plate and drove in the win- ning run. “Those types of games can defi ne your season,” said Cottage Grove coach Lions left searching for answers Cottage Grove lost its fourth in a row against Pleasant Hill BY MATT HOLLANDER The Cottage Grove Sentinel A fter starting the season 3-0, the Lions dropped their fourth consecutive game on Thursday against Pleasant Hill, 16-2, in fi ve in- nings. Erin Skelton doubled, tripled and drove in three runs, and Emily Waits and Erica Skelton com- bined on a two-hitter to lead the visiting Billies to victory over Cottage Grove. The fi nal score obscured a promising start for the Lions. Cottage Grove forced Pleasant Hill to go 0-for-3 in its fi rst three at bats, and in the top of the fi rst inning, Liz Wiltse drove in Taylor Sayles for a 1-0 lead. However, the Billies (6-3) scored four runs in the second inning and did not allow another run- ner on base until the top of bottom of the fourth in- ning — by which point they had built a 9-1 lead. “That was pretty rough,” said Cottage Grove coach Cheryl Frieze. “We’re good for about two innings, maybe three, but we haven’t got the en- durance yet to keep fi ghting a whole game — es- pecially against tougher teams.” Through the start of the fourth inning, Sayles had thrown three strikeouts and allowed fi ve hits. Lindsey Clarke gave up seven hits in the fourth in- ning before Sayles returned to fi nish the game. “We had not anticipated bringing in Lindsey so soon, but we could see that Taylor was getting frustrated. Lindsey is a great follow-up, and it paid off to get Taylor back in the game later on,” said Friese, who added that Sayles is still trying Please see Softball, Page 2B photo by Matt Hollander For Cottage Grove, hits were tough to come by against Pleasant Hill last Thurs- day. K'alea Galbreath put this ball in play in the fi fth inning but was tagged out at fi rst base. Dan Geiszler. “When we look back at the end of the year, I think we’ll see this game as one of those defi ning mo- ments.” Philomath got on the board fi rst when Carson Callder scored off of a single by Brandon Simons in the second inning, but Cottage Grove picked off Simons at second base to end the inning when he tried to turn his hit into a double. When it appeared that the Lions would have two men on base with two outs in the top of the second inning, the Warriors turned in a near identical play to pick off Mihan at second base. Stock tied the game for Cottage Grove in the third inning, scoring on a sacrifi ce fl y by Brett Ollivant. Philomath countered in the fourth inning when Cal Stueve hit a single to score McGary. “These teams were very similar in every aspect,” Geiszler said. “We went toe-to-toe on a lot of plays, and whoever made the fi nal play was going to win the game.” During the fourth, fi fth and sixth in- nings, the Lions struggled to convert on scoring opportunities, leaving seven men on base — a stat that Geiszler was not pleased about. “We were hitting for the air instead of hitting for the ground,” he said. “When we have a guy on second base: two ground balls and he scores; two fl y balls and he’s out. We have to make those plays.” Through four innings, Thomason had thrown two strikeouts, walked/hit six and allowed four hits. And while it, Please see Baseball, Page 2B
