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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (April 22, 2015)
B Section B S PORTS South Lane County Sports and Recreation Wednesday, April 22, 2015 Contact Sports, 942-3325 or e-mail sports@cgsentinel.com Lions pile up victories against Sky-Em opponents Ledford, short relay spark the boys; girls sweep in the throws BY MATT HOLLANDER The Cottage Grove Sentinel T he Cottage Grove track and fi eld program had a break-through performance on Thurs- day, winning a combined 14 events in a Sky-Em League triangular meet at Herald White Stadium. The boys got the day rolling with a victory in the 4x100 meter relay. The team of Michael Thar- pe, Connor Howard, Jacob Woods and Brynden Howell brought the stick around in 44.62, which ranked as the seventh-fastest time in the state. Cottage Grove coach Ricky Knutson said that it was nice to see the team clicking after deal- ing with hand-off issues the week before at the Springfi eld Rotary Invitational, and that Woods, a photo by Matt Hollander Cottage Grove's Brynden Howell pulls away from Elmira in the 4x100 meter relay. freshman, looked very strong in his fi rst time run- ning the event this year. Freshman Tyler Ledford kept the momentum rolling with an emphatic victory in the 1500 me- ters. After trailing Elmira’s Ben Douthit by nearly 50 meters midway through the race, Ledford used a big kick to reel him in and beat him to the fi nish line, 4:25.75 to 4:26.25. “I knew he started out too fast, so I just wanted to catch him in the end,” said Ledford, who add- ed that while it was a big confi dence booster, he knows that he still has a long way to go before thinking about a berth to the state meet. Knutson said he felt a noticeable uptick in en- ergy around the track after Ledford’s dramatic come-from-behind victory. “I hadn’t seen much of that so far this year. It really set the tone for the day, and I felt that kids were more excited to compete,” he said. Brad Geisler broke out of a slump in the discus to set a personal record of 128-05 on his fi rst at- tempt. Please see TRACK AND FIELD, Page 3B Clawson announces retirement Athlete of the Week CGHS begins search for new girls basketball coach T BY MATT HOLLANDER The Cottage Grove Sentinel After eight seasons as the head coach of Cottage Grove’s varsity girls’ basketball team, Kerry Clawson announced her retirement last Wednesday. “I’ve been incredibly fortu- nate to live my dream. I ago- nized over this decision — just as I did with the decision to ac- cept the job in the fi rst place. But having made the choice, I know now that it’s the right thing to do,” she said. During her time at Cottage photo by Matt Hollander Cottage Grove’s Kassidy Whisler beats the tag at home plate to score the game-tying run in the bottom of the seventh inning. Cottage Grove takes Elmira to the brink Lions lose in extra innings, 7-4 BY MATT HOLLANDER The Cottage Grove Sentinel O Kerry Clawson Grove, Clawson led the Lions to a 136-71 record, four league championships and the 4A State Championship in 2010, in which the Lions defeated Marist 53-51 in the title game. Cottage Grove fi nished as the runner-up in 2009. Clawson also coached at Bar- low High School from 1987 to Please see CLAWSON, Page 3B n Friday, the Lions came close to doing something they haven’t done in six years: beat Elmira. And if not for a few controversial calls in the latter stages of the game, they may have been able to fi nish the job. For most of the contest, it appeared that the Falcons (9-3, 5-0 Sky-Em) were well on their way to a 19th consecutive victory in the series, but Cottage Grove (5-8, 2-3 Sky-Em) scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to tie the game at four runs apiece. After a scoreless eighth inning, Elmira’s Alyssa Nelson was sent to fi rst base when Cottage Grove’s Taylor Sayles, who had retired seven of the previous nine batters, was called for an illegal pitch. The call required a lengthy discussion between the umpires, and their decision was highly disputed by Lion players and coach Cheryl Frieze. When the game resumed, Miranda Jen- sen hit a double to deep centerfi eld that put two men in scoring position. This play also brought Frieze out of the dugout. She believed that Jensen’s foot was out of the batter’s box when she made contact with the ball and should have been an automatic out. But her plea came to no avail. And after Brittany Wahl hit an RBI sin- gle to score Nelson for the go-ahead run, the Falcons scored two more runs on a se- ries of errors by Cottage Grove. The Lions were eventually able to close out the inning without allowing any more runs, but the damage was done. “The illegal pitch defi nitely had an effect on the team,” said Frieze. “I wasn’t happy with the explanation, but sometimes you have to accept that.” Kalea Galbreath led off the bottom of the ninth inning with a single to shallow centerfi eld. And it appeared that Cottage Grove would have two runners on base and no outs when Sayles — the next bat- ter — made solid contact with the ball. But Jensen, who fi nished with nine strikeouts, snared the ball on its way back to the pitch- er’s mound and made the out at fi rst base for the double play. After that, Kassidy Whisler fl ew out to third base to end the game. “It was frustrating, honestly,” said fi rst baseman Katie Lyons. “We feel like a lot of things didn’t go our way, but we should have picked it up earlier in the game in- stead of leaving it all to the end.” Of course, the Lions needed some Please see SOFTBALL, Page 3B he Cottage Grove boys’ golf team won’t need a heroic comeback at this year’s district tournament, thanks in part to Johnny Conrad, who paced the Lions to the regular season league championship and an automatic berth to the state tournament. In the fi nal league match last Wednesday at Agate Beach, Conrad shot a season-best 79 to help the Lions hold off a late charge by Stayton to fi nish eight strokes ahead of the Eagles, 1844-1852, for the season. With a league-low 419 strokes in the fi ve league matches, Con- rad was named the individual champion. Teammate Cameron Sandoval was second with 432. Stayton had one of its best outings this year at Agate Beach, shooting 338 to outdistance Cot- tage Grove (366). However, the Lions came into the day with a 36-stroke cushion. Cottage Grove will compete at the Umpqua Resort on Fri- day and Black Butte Ranch on Tuesday. Johnny Conrad Lions can’t muster Kelly Field magic, lose in extra innings Cottage Grove loses a 10-inning heartbreaker to Sweet Home BY MATT HOLLANDER The Cottage Grove Sentinel C ottage Grove fans who were at Kelly Field for last Wednesday’s Sky-Em League game against Sweet Home were no doubt feeling con- fi dent when the Lions — winners of two memo- rable walk-off wins in the previous two weeks — came to the plate in the seventh inning of a tied game. But after a quick three-and-out, one could start to feel that it just wasn’t their day. In the top of the tenth inning, the Huskies used three straight singles to push across the go-ahead run. Payton Presley got to second base in the bot- tom of the inning, but Cottage Grove was unable photo by Matt Hollander Cottage Grove's Zach Thomason threw seven strikeouts against Sweet Home. to cash in. Sweet Home prevailed 3-2 and ended the Lions seven-game winning streak. After scoring 31 runs in their previous two contests, the Cottage Grove struggled mightily at the plate, going 6-for-35. Huskies’ Cole Ashcroft struck out seven and walked four in 9 1/3 in- nings. “I was a little disappointed in some of our at- bats, and not because of the outcome,” said coach Dan Geiszler. “We were chasing a guy who is pretty predictable, watching pitches go by and not taking aggressive swings. I’d rather see a kid take three aggressive swings and strike out than hit a weak pop-up somewhere.” Cottage Grove put the fi rst run on the board when Lucas Ward, who got on base with a double to left fi eld, scored on an error by Sweet Home shortstop Justin Tow. Meanwhile, Zach Thomason was off to a wick- ed pace on the mound. The senior pitcher retired 15 of the fi rst 16 Sweet Home batters. In 9 1/3 Please see BASEBALL, Page 2B Join us for the Western Sprint Tour Spring Showdown April 24th & 25th Friday Night: 360 Sprints, Late Models, Street Stocks Saturday Night: 360 Sprints, IMCA Modiϐieds, Hornets
