COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL May 13, 2015
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B ASEBALL
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photo by Matt Hollander
Cottage Grove's Lucas Ward went 2-for-5 against Junction City on May 7.
S OFTBALL
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another Junction City run until the fi fth
inning.
By that point, however, several offi ciating
calls had gone against the Lions, and they
appeared rattled when Junction City capital-
ized on those calls to start scoring runs.
“We’re very disappointed,” said Cottage
Grove coach Cheryl Frieze. “We let some
bad calls take us out of the game. We got
down on ourselves and made some mistakes
afterward. Prior to that we were doing great,
and the girls were playing very well; hitting
the ball and doing what they needed to do.”
Trailing 4-3 to start the bottom of the sixth
inning, Junction City got two runners on
base by virtue of Cottage Grove errors, and
Bumcrot scored the tying run on a ground-
rule double to center fi eld. With the bases
loaded, Jordawn Spangler brought in the go-
ahead run with a bunt single.
The Tigers would score four more runs in
the sixth to give themselves a comfortable
margin of victory.
“There was a lot at stake for both teams,”
Campbell said. “I tried to downplay that
pressure with my group, but you really
can’t. Early on we were way out in front of
our pitches. We were anxious to make some-
thing happen instead of letting it happen.”
Frieze said she wasn’t surprised that Junc-
tion City’s offense came alive in the latter
innings. She pointed out that the Tigers
scored eight runs in their fi rst meeting, and
they left eight runners on base in the fi rst
four innings of Wednesday’s game.
“We could have made it comfortable early
and we didn’t,” Campbell said. “But these
things can build like a crescendo. Once you
start scoring runs, it becomes contagious.
And when things go bad, it goes bad in
waves.”
Frieze said that the team hasn’t spent
much time talking about the postseason but
knew what was at stake against Junction
City, and she said they were naturally pretty
upset in the wake of Wednesday’s loss.
Junction City beat Cottage Grove 9-0 on
Friday to complete the season sweep and
lock up third place in league.
The Lions fi nish the regular season this
week with two games against Sweet Home
— at home on Tuesday and away on Friday.
Tuesday’s game was senior day for Amanda
Anderson, Katie Lyons, Taylor Sayles and
Liz Wiltse.
that can change within a game as well.”
Trailing 9-1 with two outs in the fourth inning,
Lucas Ward got on base with a single to right
fi eld. Bellamy then brought him home with his
triple. Elias Stock scored Bellamy with a single to
center fi eld. And with two men on base, East took
Daulton Hofer’s pitch out of the park and closed
the Lions’ defi cit to three runs.
Although East has only seen a handful of at-
bats this season, Geiszler said that he certainly
wasn’t waiving a white fl ag when he brought him
in as a pinch-hitter.
“I put him in there to get a hit,” Geisler said.
“He’s been swing the bat real well in practice and
deserves an opportunity. I thought he gave us the
best opportunity to score in that situation. He came
through, and it was a great moment for him.”
The Lions forced a quick 4-and-out by the Ti-
gers in the bottom of the fi fth but were unable to
draw any closer during their next at bat, although
Ward had reached third base.
Junction City scored an unearned run in the
bottom of the sixth inning to extend their lead to
10-6.
After Stock popped-up to start the seventh in-
ning, the Lions had three straight singles by Ol-
livant, Thomason and Allen. Ollivant scored on
Allen’s hit, and Thomason came in on a passed-
ball to bring the Lions within two runs.
Back at the top of the order, Payton Presley
Twins take fi ve golds
at Taekwondo
World Open champs
It hasn't taken very much time at all for
twins Bridget and Sierra Tilley to fi nd a
groove in their new home — at least when it
comes to taekwondo.
Last weekend at the US World Open
Championships in Portland, Bridget and Si-
erra, who moved to Cottage Grove earlier
this spring, combined to win fi ve gold med-
als in the blue-belt division of individual
forms, pairs forms and sparring.
According to their father, Norman, Bridg-
et and Sierra have only been competing for
a year-and-a-half, but they already have sig-
nifi cant achievements on their resume. Last
year, they were co-national champions in
the forms, and they took fi rst and second in
the same at the Pan American games, also
in Portland.
"This all started by accident," said Nor-
man. "We only looked into taekwondo be-
cause the dance studio they wanted to join
had closed."
Bridget and Sierra train at the US Tae-
kwondo College in Eugene.
scored another run on a ground out.
Cottage Grove would put the winning run on
base, but Ward fl ew out to center fi eld to end the
game.
Given how close the game ended, the Lions
were left to rue the early mistakes that put them in
such a deep hole.
“Everybody got up after we started to rally, but
before then everyone was going through the mo-
tions,” said East. “It’s really tough losing because
this was a must-win for us. And now, all that’s
guaranteed for us is two more games. A lot of
people are going to take away lessons from this
season. We were overthinking what we needed to
do instead of just going to play ball.”
Despite the sense of fi nality after Thursday’s
game, the Lions may have a better-than-slim
chance to advance to the postseason as one of the
three non-automatic qualifi ers. At No. 18, Cottage
Grove is currently (4 p.m. Monday) the state’s
highest-ranked fourth-place team.
And while the Lions close the regular season
with two games this week against No. 8 Sweet
Home (13-7, 9-4 Sky-Em), the other schools vy-
ing for at-large bids, including Molalla, Cascade,
Valley Catholic and Mazama, will be underdogs
against at least one opponent this week.
The Lions were scheduled to play at Sweet
Home on Tuesday and will host the Huskies on
Friday. The season fi nale is Senior Day for Tristan
Mihan, Stock and Thomason.
Kids are done with sports, now it’s time
for the adults to have some fun!
SOUTH VALLEY ATHLETICS
Adult recreational co-ed soccer & co-ed softball
REGISTER NOW THRU JUNE 1ST
$500 per team
Soccer – max of 15 players per team
(15+ years old)
Softball – minimum of 10 players per team
(18+ years old)
Softball must have a minimum of six teams to
go forward with the league
1440 S. 8th Street • 541-942-3079
www.southvalleyathletics.org
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