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