B
S PORTS
Wednesday, June 1, 2016
Section B
South Lane County Sports and Recreation
Contact Sports, 942-3325 or e-mail sports@cgsentinel.com
Despite round-two elimination, baseball
sees best fi nish in 25 years
The Lions lost to
Astoria in round
two, but the victory
over Baker in round
one marks the best
fi nish the team has
had in a quarter of a
century
Athletes of the Week
BY SAM WRIGHT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
It’s not only track that is show-
ing a stellar fi nish this spring;
baseball has set milestones too.
After a victory against Baker,
the Lions fi nally lost at home to
Astoria in extra innings, but it’s
the best fi nish Cottage Grove
has had in 25 years.
The fi rst playoff match came
Wednesday when the Baker City
team came to town. This is the
third different sport where Cot-
tage Grove has faced off against
Baker in the postseason, and
last week’s game put Cottage
Grove up 2-1 in games against
the Bulldogs.
Baker came into the game
ranked at number 13 in the state
,while the Lions were ranked
fourth. The 13-13 Bulldogs
faced a stronger 19-7 Cottage
Grove squad, but they weren’t
counted out.
The Lions went up early with
four runs that included a triple
by Payton Presley. The Sky-Em
Player of the Year managed three
hits and three RBIs throughout
the game.
The Bulldogs responded in
the next inning with just one
Strength in numbers
Photo by Sam Wright
Lucas Ward slides to third attempting to avoid being tagged out against Baker on
Wednesday.
year, but you never know who
run that was mostly due to an Dan Geiszler said.
Geiszler is still proud of the will step up and become lead-
undeniably questionable call off
of a stolen base. But the Lions team and where they got, as ers,” he added. There are only
held a 4-1 lead until the top of the Lions didn’t make it past the three returning seniors (cur-
the fourth inning, where Baker fi rst round of the playoffs last rently juniors) for next year, so
there will be a lot more room for
managed to bring in two more year.
The team will lose an elite younger players to step up.
runs, putting them just one run
The Lions fi nished with an
crop of seniors next year, but
away from a tie.
Both teams’ defenses were there is plenty of potential for overall batting average of .293
steadfast and not a single run younger players to step up, in- and a 40.2 on base percentage,
was scored for the remaining cluding Brett Ollivant, who won both slightly above the national
2.5 innings, and Cottage Grove the Sky-Em Pitcher of the Year average for prep baseball. Their
90.8 fi elding percentage also
award.
came away with a 4-3 victory.
“It’s sad that they have to ranks slightly higher than the
The Lions suffered through
more of a struggle with Astoria. leave, not only because they’re national average.
After a Sky-Em Champion-
After a long, low-scoring battle, great players but because they’re
the Fisherman pulled away with a really great group of people,” ship season, Cottage Grove fi n-
two runs in the ninth inning, and Geiszler said of his seniors. But ished with a 20-8 overall record.
Cottage Grove succumbed, 4-2. there is still excitement to see Those returning to the team
“We played really good de- who will be the next leaders of next year will begin the summer
league on Friday.
fense in both games but just the team.
“You’ll always know the type
couldn’t get the hits we needed
against Astoria,” Head Coach of talent that will return next
Golf season meets expectations; potential
improvements to come next year
Placing third at districts and qualifying for the state tournament were among Kent Russo's goals
BY SAM WRIGHT
The Cottage Grove Sentinel
The Cottage Grove High
School golf team had certain
goals set by head coach Kent
Russo. Although these goals
were met, there is still room for
improvement for next year.
Russo said that the Lions’
original goal for the district
tournament was to place third
and make it to state. This dis-
plays the realistic perception
Russo has on his team and that
he understands that many play-
ers are still working their way to
a higher skill level.
“We weren’t going to threaten
for fi rst or second this year,” he
said. And they didn’t, but Cot-
tage Grove met its goal and put
themselves in a comfortable
third place and qualifi ed for the
state tournament. Junction City
walked away with the district
title, and Sutherlin followed in
second place.
On day one, Jessy Thomason
achieved a career best, shoot-
ing 92 in the fi rst round, while
senior and team leader Nick
Russo shot a solid score of 86.
These two performances helped
put Cottage Grove in a 20-stroke
lead over North Marion. On the
next day Russo shot 89 and kept
pace with the top players of the
tournament and eventually took
third place individually.
Jeramy Hall shot a solid 95 on
day two, which Russo says is a
good score for the course.
“The greens were extremely
fast, which made pitches, chips
and putts very diffi cult,” he
said.
Russo also noted the potential
of Trey Husko, who shot 99 on
Cottage Grove baseball made a statement this year by
taking the Sky-Em League and snagging a playoff win
over a tough Baker team. Although the Lions lost to
Astoria in round two, the team fi nished its season bet-
ter than any pervious team in the past 25 years. Head
Coach Dan Geiszler's team has rejuvenated the program
and will look to keep improving the team despite the
loss of four seniors.
Top Right to Left: Jaydin Osbin, Lucas Ward, Coach Gei-
zler, Sr. Coach Gardner, Coach Hutchins, Head Coach
Geizler, Ryan East, Hunter Harris
Middle Row Bottom Right to Left: Payton Frieze, Emry
Foster, Wyatt Sayles, Mason Cox
Bottom Right to Left: Jacce Cross, Brett Ollivant, Bryce
Allen, Payton Presley, TJ Bellamy
Roger Crockett wins
night one of
Memorial Grove Classic
BY BEN DEATHERAGE
For the Sentinel
Photo by Sam Wright
Kent Russo tees off at Middlefi eld Golf Course for an end-of-the-season game last
Wednesday.
day two, breaking 100 for the
fi rst time. He shot 42 on the
front nine but shot 57 the rest of
the way.
“He will improve dramati-
cally over the next couple of
seasons,” Russo said.
Cottage Grove took its fi ve
varsity players to state the next
week. Aside from Russo, Thom-
ason, Hall and Husko, senior
Dylan Wooten was also part of
the varsity squad.
Thomason led the board
,shooting 96 on both rounds for
a total of 192, while Russo was
just behind him after shooting
102 in the fi rst round and 95 in
the second round (197 total).
Hall came out with the best indi-
vidual round of the team with a
score of 94 in the fi rst round but
shot 110 in the second round.
Wooten broke 100 in round
one (99), but totaled 206 after a
107 score in round two. Husko
capped them off with 96 and
112 for a total of 208.
Although the team placed
last, it wasn’t a disappointing
performance. While improve-
ments can defi nitely be made
and scores will need to be low-
ered in order for more success
against the state competition,
there will be a return of players
such as Husko, Hall and Thom-
ason who can possibly strive
541-942-7561
for a higher place in the district
tournament.
In the meantime, Russo urges
players to keep playing golf in
the offseason.
“They can play for free; even
once a month would be good,”
he said. Russo says he also has
verbal confi rmation that Kory
Parent and Blake Sentman will
participate in golf next spring.
“They will defi nitely be nice
to have on the team,” Russo said.
But before that happens, there
may be more frequent sightings
of younger faces at Middlefi eld
Golf Course.
Saturday, May 28 was the
opening leg of the Marvin Smith
Memorial Grove Classic. An
impressive 38 360 Sprint Cars
traveled from Oregon, Wash-
ington, California, as well as
the Canadian provinces of Brit-
ish Columbia and Alberta. For
the IMCA Modifi eds 20 entries
were in the house.
Defending race winner Jason
Solwold of Burlington, Wash-
ington led the opening lap of
the 360 Sprint race. Solwold
got passed on lap two by Roger
Crockett. Crockett, from Med-
ford, built a decent lead, but just
as lapped traffi c was coming
into the picture, a caution oc-
curred.
A few more cautions came
out, and it was right about when
traffi c was beginning to become
a factor. Crockett was very good
on the restarts and really had no
issues the rest of the way. It was
the second win of the 2016 sea-
son at CGS for Roger and the
No. 11 KPC.
Solwold ended the night sec-
ond, followed by Paradise, Cali-
fornia’s Kyle Hirst in third. The
balance of the top fi ve consisted
of Henry Van Dam of Enum-
claw, Washington, while Cen-
tral Point native Garen Linder
was fi fth. The top four fi nishers
of Crockett, Solwold, Hirst, and
Henry Van Dam were locked
into the Sunday night feature.
With so many cars in atten-
dance the fi eld was split in half
with two groups of qualifi ers.
Solwold was fastest in the fi rst
wave, while Hirst was on top of
the second group. Justyn Cox of
Clarksburg, California, Roger
Crockett, Central Point chauf-
feur Chadd Noland and Alba-
ny’s Bricen James were the four
heat race winners. Kyle Miller,
from Eugene, was the winner of
the Dot’s Trophy Shop Trophy
Dash.
Despite a number of cautions
in the main event, the IMCA
Modifi eds put on quite an enter-
taining race. Coquille’s Ryan
Baker got into the lead on lap
one. Curtis Towns, of Cottage
Grove, was able to get around
Baker to take over the top place
position. Towns built a decent
lead but kept having it cut down
due to cautions.
Kreg Britton, also out of
Cottage Grove, tracked down
Towns and made the pass un-
derneath for the lead on lap ten
only to lose it the following lap.
Curtis Towns was able to hold
on for the rest of the distance to
win his fi rst race of the season at
Cottage Grove.
Albany’s Craig Hanson got
second, while Kreg Britton
crossed the line third. Pulling off
double duty Bricen James was
fourth, followed by Eugene’s
Jesse Williamson in fi fth.
Steven Sturdevant of Spring-
fi eld was fast time of the night.
Picking up heat race wins were
Sturdevant, Springfi eld’s Jake
Mayden and Curtis Towns.
Craig Hanson would be victo-
rious in the Dot’s Trophy Shop
Trophy Dash.
Join us June 4th for
KIDS NIGHT - KIDS 12 AND UNDER FREE
Clark Printing Extreme Sprints, IMCA Modifi eds,
IMCA SportMods, Quality RV Repair Hornets
www.cottagegrovespeedway.com
All kids 12 and under will be entered in a drawing for bicycles