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.
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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
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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.
Caring for your Health
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