Cottage Grove sentinel., May 03, 2017, Image 13

B
S PORTS
Section B
WEDNESDAY, MAY 3, 2017
South Lane ns North Douglas County Sports and Recreation
Contact Sports, 541-942-3325 or e-mail sports@cgsentinel.com
Lions fall to
Junction City in
doubleheader
Brett Ollivant preps to leave CGHS
Heading into Friday’s double header
with
the Junction City Tigers, the Cot-
For The Sentinel
tage Grove Lions baseball team knew
that they would need a pair of wins to
remain in the Sky-Em conference championship race with the Sis-
ters Outlaws. The Lions had won with a 7th inning rally the day
before at Elmira 9-7 and were in a prime position to set up a big
date with the Outlaws on Tuesday at Kelly fi eld if they could take
care of business against Junction City. However, the Lions bats
struggled to get going in either game as Cottage Grove dropped
both matches against the Tigers.
“We pitched and played defense well, giving up three runs and
fi ve runs”, Lions coach, Dan Geiszler said. “Normally we are going
to be right in the game and have a chance to win.”
The Lions had a chance during the 3rd inning of game one to
get a few on the board but left the bases loaded. Cottage Grove did
manage to take a 1-0 lead in the 5th inning after Hunter Gipson
was able to steal home, but Junction City responded in the 6th by
scoring three runs. The Lions, for the second time in as many days
had the chance for a 7th inning rally but Jaace Cross struck out with
bases loaded and sending the Lions to a game one 1-3 loss.
“Offensively we struggled a lot against some pitchers we prob-
ably shouldn’t have struggled against, that was frustrating. We got
our guys up that we wanted in key situations but we just couldn’t
come through.”
Cottage Grove attempted to respond in game two of the double
header but again couldn’t get things going offensively. Things un-
raveled quickly for the Lions in the 5th inning when Junction City
expanded on its 1-0 lead by scoring four runs and taking a 5-0 lead.
The Lions did get on the board in the 5th when Wyatt Sayles got
on an RBI single bringing home Brett Ollivant and then shortly
after that Gipson made his way to home plate to cut the score to
5-2. Sayles pitching was solid in the 6th inning giving the Lions
By Kyle McGowen
Please see BASEBALL B
After years as a Lion athlete, Ollivant says goodbye to the gold and
blue as he prepares to graduate this June
After earning Sky-Em League Pitcher
of
the Year, First Team All-League and
For The Sentinel
Second Team All-State accolades as a ju-
nior, Cottage Grove High School pitcher
and senior Brett Ollivant has returned to the mound for his fi nal
season with the goal of defending the team’s league title.
Now in the home stretch of the regular season, the Lions “defi -
nitely still hold our own destiny as far as going to the playoffs,”
Ollivant said. “We just need to win out, win a lot of games, and
we’ll be fi ne.”
The Lions (7-4 in league play) are current defending league
champions after taking home their fi rst league title in 25 years last
season. It was in that same season that Ollivant established himself
as an integral member of the team, after having swung between
junior varsity and varsity as a freshman and becoming a full varsity
player his sophomore and junior seasons.
But Lions head baseball coach and Cottage Grove High School
physical education teacher Dan Geiszler had seen a glimpse of Olli-
vant’s talent for the sport before he was even in high school. Geisz-
ler coached number 15 in the summer between Ollivant’s seventh
and eighth grade years.
“He’s always had just natural baseball instincts,” said Geiszler.
“[It’s] something you can’t teach.”
Ollivant got his start in baseball at just fi ve or six years old in Cre-
swell before making the move to playing the for the youth league
Babe Ruth in Pleasant Hill.
“I was an active kid,” Ollivant laughed, explaining his introduc-
tion to baseball. “[My parents] put me in it because they got tired of
me running around the house.”
Prior to joining the Cottage Grove High School team as a fresh-
man, Ollivant had seen most of his playing time at shortstop or on
second base. But he recalled that it wasn’t long after joining the
varsity squad that he began to practice pitching for the Lions.
“It was a rough transition for a little bit,” Ollivant said of his fi rst
few games at the varsity level. “It was defi nitely a little intimidating
to be out there with all those seniors who had worked really hard.”
But Ollivant soon got into the swing of things, playing summer
ball and using off-season practices to improve his skills. That extra
work paid off for Ollivant and the Lions baseball team as a whole
last year when the team won its league title and Ollivant took hon-
ors for pitching
“It was pretty cool that I could be a part of that,” Ollivant said,
“especially will all the seniors we had last year.”
The win brought recognition from locals around town; Ollivant
recalled getting stopped by residents who congratulated him and
By Madison Layton
Athlete of the Week
teammates on the accomplishment. And if locals didn’t recognize
the boys by face, players could rely on their jerseys and hats bearing
their school’s name hung in the back of their cars to earn them a pat
on the back or a handshake.
After the Lions stellar 2016 season, Geiszler said Ollivant con-
tinued the practice habits he had set before and prevented the acco-
lades from allowing him to think the work was over.
“Some people could kind of rest and say ‘well I was really good
as a junior, I don’t need to do anything because I’ll just be better
as a senior.’ That’s never the case unless you work,” Geiszler said.
“He’s put in the work.”
Now, nearing the end of his fi nal season with the Lions, Ollivant
is focusing on helping his team retain their title, while also prepar-
ing for his own future.
In the fall, Ollivant plans to attend Lane Community College to
complete his prerequisites before moving on to another college. He
is juggling the decision to play baseball for the Titans while taking
classes in Eugene.
Next up, the Lions will take on Sisters on May 2 before traveling
to Sutherlin on May 9.
Sabrina James improved her 3000m time during Meet of the Champions
by 27 seconds. The feat earned her a third place fi nish and a #7 ranking in
the state. Congratulations, Sabrina!
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