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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (April 15, 2015)
2B COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL April 15, 2015 B ASEBALL Sky-Em Baseball Continued from 1B “Those hitters at the top of the lineup are scrappy guys; they’re going to put the ball in play somewhere, and you can’t ask your pitcher to strike out every batter,” he said. That the Lions were even in position to win the game was something of a miracle; three times they got out of innings with the bases loaded, and for the game, the Outlaws left 14 men on base. “Offensively, we were not our normal selves,” Hodges said. “We weren’t aggres- sive in the counts we needed to be and watched too many pitches. That usually comes back to bite any team.” Sisters got on the board fi rst when Cody Kreminski hit an RBI single to score Harrer in the third inning. But the Lions responded immediately with two runs of their own to take the lead. First, Presley hit an RBI double to score Al- len, and Lucas Ward later drove in Presley with a single to left-center fi eld. Cottage Grove fl irted with disaster in the fourth inning. With two outs and two men on base, Harrer’s grounder down the left- fi eld line went between the legs of Lions’ third baseman T.J. Bellamy, and Austin Ogilvie came in for the tying run. After double steals by Harrer and Alex Olivier, and Cottage Grove pitcher Zach Thomason hit Ryan Funk, the Outlaws had the bases loaded. But Presley leapt high to snare a Kremenski hit that was heading for centerfi eld. “Our kids don’t tense up in the big situ- ations. Mistakes are going to happen; it’s what you do after that counts. They just keep playing, and I can’t exactly pinpoint why. But we work on those situations a lot in practice, and you hope it pays off in big games,” Geiszler said. The Lions committed another error in the fi fth inning to help Sisters load up the bases yet again. But Bellamy recovered from his earlier gaffe to fi eld an Olivier grounder and assist on the putout at fi rst base to end the inning. “We made some mistakes that we nor- mally don’t make. But we came through, like we’ve done all year. I guess I’m thrilled we didn’t play well and still won because it shows we can hang with the best teams in the state, even when we’re off our game,” Geiszler said. Thomason allowed fi ve hits in 5 1/3 in- nings, with three strikeouts and four walks. And Hunter Harris closed the game for Cottage Grove by retiring fi ve consecutive batters — three by strikeouts. Both teams entered the game ranked in the top fi ve, and that could be the case when they meet again on April 24 and 28. “We’ve played in a lot of meaningful games in the last four to fi ve years,” Hodges said. “And we’ve had a lot of close calls dur- ing the streak, but we’ve always managed to come out on the winning end. Eventually if you don’t execute and make plays, someone is going to be able to beat you. Next time, we’ve got to be much better situationally at the plate.” H OLLANDER Continued from 1B “In the past, that would have been a crushing moment. And when I saw it, I thought, ‘Oh man, here we go again,’” coach Dan Geiszler said of the error. Exactly. The Lions weren’t just battling a powerhouse; they were battling their own futile history against the Outlaws. “I do my best to never get on a kid for a physical error,” Geiszler said. “And it’s big when you have a kid like Payton, who’s one of our vocal leaders, telling everyone ‘don’t worry about it; just play on.’” Bellamy clearly had no doubts about that, as he came back an inning later to assist on the fi nal out with the bases loaded. “We work on letting things go and being mentally tough. We all had T.J.’s back,” said Presley said. Is it really that simple? It sure reads a lot like one of Crash Davis’ clichés from Bull Dur- T RACK AND ham. But to hear it from Pres- ley, and see it on the fi eld in a variety of spots, you too could be convinced that these Lions have a knack for performing in the clutch. While Bellamy’s error stood out in the moment, in retrospect the Lions dug themselves out of several holes over the course of the game. In the fi fth inning, with his pitch count creeping into the 70s, Thomason walked the fi rst Sisters batter and later commit- ted an error that put two men on base — one in scoring position. But nobody was surprised when he struck out the next batter and put the Lions in position to get out of the inning. “Zach really didn’t let his errors get to him. He bounced back by getting his curveball working, and he threw strikes. That game could have gone a different direction had that not happened,” Presley said. After that inning one could sense a swelling volume and confi dence in the Lions dugout. “Before the seventh inning we were going to all the players and asking, ‘Who’s going to be the one to get it done?’ and they all had the mentality of, ‘I’m going to be the one,’” Geiszler recalled. Most teams stop at various levels on their climb up the mountain. These Lions skipped the part of playing Sisters close but coming up short, to just plain beating them. Does this victory mean that the Lions are kings of the Sky- Em? Hardly. The Outlaws left 14 men on base, and Justin Har- rer threw six strikeouts. That combination of success at the plate and on the mound typical- ly leads to victory. And if Sisters didn’t take Cottage Grove seri- ously enough in this fi rst game of their season series, there’s no chance for that in the next two. However, the Lions didn’t ex- actly play their best game either. They committed three errors and hit or walked eight batters. Geiszler also said that they were a bit tentative on the bases and didn’t get bunts down in key situations. So, what do these teams have for an encore when they meet twice over four days in late April? It's hard to understate what's at stake for both teams. Sisters can avenge its loss with two resounding victories, or Cottage Grove can fi nish the job that it has started of dethroning the champs. $ PUUBHF ( SPWF 4 FOUJOFM Our Community Newspaper since 1889 photo by Matt Hollander Under the lights of Silke Field, Cottage Grove's Hud- son Weybright fi nished third in the 3000 meters of the Springfi eld Rotary Invitational. 40-09.5. On the girls’ side, Courtney Hammel placed second in the discus with a throw of 105-10 — a PR that moved her into sixth in the current state rank- ings. In the shot put, Conner Bori- go was consistently throwing beyond 30 feet. She ended up placing third with a best of 34- 02.25. “I was just a few inches away from my PR, so I’m happy,” said Borigo, who just picked up the event last year. “Warm-ups have always been better than my ac- tual throws. I'm trying to bring the same mindset to the compe- tition, but I’m also going to try cutting down on my warm-ups, so I can have more explosion.” Moving up from the middle distances, Hudson Weybright fi nished third in the 3000 meters in 11:52.80. Lebanon won the boys’ com- petition with 172 points, and Cottage Grove came in second to last (22). South Albany eked out a close victory over West Albany in the girls’ meet, 91-87; Cottage Grove fi nished last with 37 points. “I hate to say that this year is a rebuilding year, because we're still a solid team, but I think next year we're going to W 3 2 2 1 1 0 L 0 1 1 2 2 3 Sky-Em Softball Team Elmira Cottage Grove Sweet Home Sutherlin Junction City Sisters W 3 2 2 1 1 0 L 0 1 1 2 2 3 COTTAGE BOWL League: Dynamic Trios Date: April 7 Team Swearengin Design Grandma's Rule Advanced Eyecare H. Selective Log. H's Rowdy Bunch Golding Enterprises Cottage Bowlerettes New Creations K. Family Merc. R's Beauty Salon W 28 28 27 24 23 21.5 17.5 16 8 7 L 12 12 13 16 17 18.5 22.5 24 32 33 High Game: Mildred Hand 178 Margot Gotcher 178 Three-high Series 1. Patsy McNally 487 2. Margot Gotcher 479 3. Debbie Saldana 466 League: Meri Rollers Date: April 7 Team Blue Sunshine Simand Chiro. Team Reliv Treasure Chest Mom's Girls Charlie's Angels Emerald Valley Ron's Girls Three Amigos Lucky Ladies Addi's Diner W 26 26 23 22 22 12 21 20 19 18 16 L 14 14 17 18 18 18 19 20 11 22 24 High Game: Jacki Jackson 217 Three-high Series: 1. Megan McNary 563 2. Robin Kwandt 562 3. Jacki Jackson 60 League: Cottage Mixers Date: April 8 Subscribe and $AVE F IELD Continued from 1B Team Cottage Grove Sisters Elmira Sweet Home Junction City Sutherlin be fantastic; there are lot of re- ally good freshman coming up,” Weybright said. So far in 2015, neither the boys’ or girls’ team have found much success in the team races. Coach Ricky Knutson said that the collective program has more question marks than in any pre- vious year at this point, but the key is to remain optimistic. “Track isn’t like other sports in that sometimes we leave a meet and the kids don’t know how we fi nished. In years like this, in which we’ve gone up against a lot of bigger programs, we downplay that component, and focus more on areas where we are showing well, like in the Sky-Em rankings,” he said. The Lions will compete in just one meet in each of the next two weeks; they host a league meet on Thursday and travel to Sweet Home on April 23 for an- other league meet. Knutson said he is looking forward to this stretch of lower- key meets. He said this is a good point of the season for solid training, and brining other ath- letes back from injury. Team Commonwealth F. C.G. Speedway Bowling Stones Covered Bridge U. Jerry Brown Co. Cottage Bowl Funseekers Kelly's Trailer R. Swearengin Design Taylor's Towing W 48 34 30 28 27 27 25 25 24 12 L 8 22 26 28 29 29 31 31 32 39 League: Yamaha City League Date: April 9 W 22 19 17 17 15 14 13 9.5 8 5.5 14 15 18.5 20 22.5 High Scratch Game Individual: John Arnold 274 Team: Drain Chainsaw 1045 High Scratch Series Individual: Butch Cardoza 796 Team: Who Cares 3217 League: Ball and Chain Date: April 10 Team More Beer Bowl Dozers Roman Numerals Cracker Jacks Senior Funsters Joe's Diner Thunder Boltz Pin Pushers Party Patrol Ally Oops W 22 20 19 17 16 14 14 13 13 8 L 10 12 13 15 16 14 18 19 19 20 High Game Men: David Nichols 277 Women: Vanessa Chenoweth 279 Men Three-high Series 1. Glen Clark 684 2. David Nichols 683 3. Chad Renfro 648 Women Three-high Series 1. Vanessa Chenoweth 717 2. Koleen Kelly 611 3. Callena True 582 League: Junior Stars Date: April 11 Team Ten Pin Mafi a J Dawgs W 33 27 Space Money Mafi a 26 Lane Rangers 23 Lane Damage 17 Delivery Boys 16 Hot Shots 11 My Spare Ladies 6 L 2 8 9 12 18 19 24 29 High Scratch Game Boys: Austin Renfro 218 Girls: Fayth Stewart 208 Team: Space Money 545 High Scratch Series Boys: Steven Richey 626 Girls: Gracie Stewart 560 Team: Delivery Boys 1500 MIDDLEFIELD MENS GOLF Date: April 6 Game: 3-2-1 Best Ball 1, Larry Eyman, Jim Cunningham, Dave England, Jack Doleman (-18). 2, Bill Avery, Deross Kinkade, Gary Sparks, Jerry Fisher (-17). 3T, Mike Helms, Larry Emery, Leon Hayes, Glen Hibner (-15). 3T, Ron Acker- man, Gary Ingram, Bob McCarty, Jerry Pennington (-15). Low Gross: 1T, Avery 74. 1T, Kinkade 74. 3, Emery 76. Low Net: 1, Avery 62. 2, England 63. 3, Cunningham 64. Closest to the Pin: No. 5, Gary Culp. No. 7, Cunningham. No. 14, Tom Arney. Longest Putt: No. 11, Dick Winters. Date: April 9 Game: High School Fundraiser High Game Men: Butch Cardoza 256 Women: Mary Whetstone 246 High Series Men: Butch Cardoza 671 Women: Mary Whetstone 246 Team Who Cares Cottage Bowl Drain Chainsaw High Yield Tech Urban Honey Gilkison & Dad Jim's Tire Dawgnauts Addi's Diner Gladiator's L 6 9 11 11 13 1, Larry Zuvich, David Morris, Dave England, Linda Levings 52.8. 2, Mike Helms, Russell Bryce, Frank LaCosse, Penny Haan 54.3. 3, Bill Avery, Don Hanly, Darrell Lee, Dave Tooker 54.8. 4, Gary Sparks, Tom Arney, Matt Bjornn 55.8. 5T, Gary Culp, Jerry Fisher, Glen Hibner, Berta Rawie 56.3. 5T, Paul Waterman, Larry Eyman, Phil Hamilton, Susan Bryce 56.3. 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