Cottage Grove sentinel., April 11, 2018, Image 13

B
S PORTS
Section B
Lions wrap
week with
wins
Wednesday, April 11, 2018
South Lane County Sports and Recreation
Contact Sports, 942-3325 or e-mail zsilva@cgsentinel.com
Join for golf, stay for community
Cottage Grove
baseball falls to
Junction City, beats
Elmira twice in start
of league play
By Zach Silva
zsilva@cgsentinel.com
It was not how the Lions
baseball team wanted to start
off the Sky-Em season. A
12-1 loss at home last Tues-
day marked the team’s fourth
loss in a row and had the
team questioning the trajec-
tory of the season before go-
ing on to beat Elmira twice in
a double-header last Friday.
“We’ve just got to have the
kids come out and compete
and we had a lot of kids in the
last week miss a lot of time
with practices and games and
that kind of sets the tone of
where we’re at right now,”
Geiszler said after Tuesday’s
loss. “I think there’s a lot of
kids who think it’s just okay.
And that it’s not going to af-
fect them or their teammates
when they miss. And I think
we’re learning a bit about
responsibility and account-
ability.”
Against the Tigers (7-4)
the Lions hung around in the
fi rst couple innings and in
the third inning, four Cottage
Grove batters were either hit
by a pitch or walked but the
team scored just one run in
the inning. At the top of the
fourth inning, Junction City
then took off and scored six
runs.
“You know, the game was
out of hand but it was close
until the fourth inning and if
we have a big inning in the
bottom of the third,” said
Geiszler before trailing off.
“And who knows how that
changes things. There’s al-
ways, especially in 4A base-
ball and baseball in general,
there’s always one or two
moments that can totally
change a game one way or
the other. And that was one
of them. And then the run-
down play that was another
big one, the overthrow at
third.”
With an out in the inning,
the Lions had a Junction City
runner in a pickle between
third and home but an over-
throw from home to third re-
sulted in a run for the Tigers.
This error was one of eight
errors in the game that came
from six different players.
The team has also struggled
running the bases this year
which is out of the ordinary
for Cottage Grove.
“Yeah, this is pretty un-
characteristic of our baseball
team to run the bases like we
have. Very uncharacteristic.
Usually we’ve been such a
good baserunning team and
it’s something we’ve prided
ourselves on and worked on.
Maybe it’s because they’re
not on base very much and
it’s something different. I
don’t know,” said Geiszler.
“But we’ll keep working at
it. And we’ll work until the
day they tell us we’re done.
So that’s our mentality that
they got to get better. I told
them I’m not worried about
who we play next. Doesn’t
even matter. We’ve just got
to come and get better. Back
to basics and get better.”
PHOTOS BY ZACH SILVA/CG SENTINEL
Members of the Cottage Grove Ladies' Club react to their shots during a round of golf last Wednesday at Middlefi eld Golf Course.
The Middlefi eld Ladies'
Club is about more than just
gof
By Zach Silva
zsilva@cgsentinel.com
When I arrived at Middlefi eld Golf
Course, I had no intention of being there
for six hours. As someone who doesn’t
golf, it seems like an excessive amount
of time to be somewhere and not partici-
pate in the sport. I was there to get a fi rst-
hand look at the always-exciting Ladies’
Golf Club.
This group of over 20 women ranging
from my mom’s age to my grandma’s
age were just a delight to be around. Cre-
ated in 1995 (the year I was born, which
was much to the chagrin of the golfers
when I told them this fact) this group is
centered on comradery and competition
but what keeps it going is its cast of char-
acters. From the Linda who helped start
the club to the Linda who told me about
the club to the Linda who just joined the
club, it is a group of women who are wit-
ty and supportive; retired and working;
"old" and less "old" but are brought to-
gether each week from April to October
to play the frustratingly enjoyable game
they love.
***
Berta Rawie and her husband Buzz
fi rst learned about Cottage Grove, as
many travelers do: via I-5. On one of
their road trips in the early 90s from their
home in Manhattan Beach, Calif. to the
Seattle area to visit one of their daugh-
ters, this blip on the map caught their
eye. More accurately, the golf course
caught their eye.
“Every time we came through here,
my husband would see, ‘Gee, that looks
like a nice golf course’ because it was
just newly built and the trees weren’t up
so you could see both sides. So, I said,
‘Well, let’s check it out,’” said Berta.
What began as just checking out the
golf course turned into packing up and
leaving the city they had lived in for 30
years to move north just a few months
later. The area, roughly in the middle of
two of their daughters, became their new
home. After getting settled into the area,
Berta decided to join the golf club that
was in its fi rst year.
“I didn’t realize it (was new), because I
was new up here. And I only played nine
holes because I really wasn’t a golfer and
I was embarrassed,” she said. Still shaky
on the nuances of golf, she was quick on
the uptake.
“But it was amazing because my hus-
band played regularly and talked golf
and we watched golf on TV. He talked
rules so I was amazed how many rules I
knew… and just golf courtesy: you don’t
stand in somebody’s putting line, blah
blah blah. You don’t talk when someone
is hitting a shot. So I really learned a lot
just listening to him because he just real-
ly loved it,” she said.
Both Berta and Buzz worked stints in
the pro shop at the course they enjoyed
to stay close to the golfi ng community
while also getting free rounds of golf. As
Buzz’s eyesight started to go Berta paint-
Golf continued on B2
Pair of races held in Cottage Grove
Runner injured
during half-marathon Runners fl ock to Row River Trail
for half-marathon and 10K
By Zach Silva
By Zach Silva
zsilva@cgsentinel.com
zsilva@cgsentinel.com
A runner was struck by a dead tree that was blown onto the
Row River Trail during the Cottage Grove Half-Marathon as a
high wind warning wento effect.
“Dead tree from reports as it exploded on the path and tossed
her off the path,” wrote event coordinator Mike Ripley in an
email. “Broke her arm and she sustained some extra injuries
that I can’t go into without the family's permission and am
waiting on a statement while she recovers in the hospital.”
Ripley noted that as a coordinator of outdoor races this is not
the fi rst time an incident like this has happened.
“I put on mountain bike and trail running so this is not
unique, just unique timing for sure to be around when a tree
falls. I am glad it was not a live tree or limb...much heavier.
Great support from a lifeguard and other runners until South
Lane Fire and Rescue arrived,” wrote Ripley.
“Next year's event is Saturday, September 14th, 2019 and we
look forward to seeing her on the starting line.”
Athletes of
the Week
CG Baseball continued on B3
541-942-7561
2150 N. Douglas St – Cottage Grove
For Julia Webb, it was a successful fi rst time in
Cottage Grove.
“It was great; gorgeous. I had never even been
to Cottage Grove,” said Webb, the fi rst-place fe-
male fi nisher in the half-marathon.
Webb, married to Alan Webb the American re-
cord holder in the mile, was one of 305 runners
from across Oregon – and from nine other states –
that converged on the Row River Trail to compete
in the third year of the half-marathon or 10k race.
“I think the Row River Trail provides value
to the community and I think the Cottage Grove
half provides that value for the region: come ex-
perience Cottage Grove,” said event coordinator
Mike Ripley.
For the half-marathon, the main event of the
weekend that saw 205 runners fi nish, runners
boarded school buses that shuttled them to the
start of the race at Dorena School. With 17 fl ag-
gers along the route pointing the way, the run-
ners continue on the trail where they fi nish near
Bohemia Park. Runners and walkers of varying
ages and abilities took to the course for their fi rst
time at this distance for some and for others, like
Webb, to train for something more.
“Yeah, I’ve got to do six more miles right now
because I’m in marathon training. It doesn’t stop,”
said Webb, a Beaverton resident who is training to
run the Eugene Marathon, her fi rst, at the end of
the month.
“So I was hoping to run about six-minute pace.
That was before I even saw any weather. And then
when I saw there was going to be wind I was like
okay maybe your goal time will be nothing of that
sort so I just wanted to get a good strong, solid ef-
fort,” she said. Webb fi nished in a time of 1:19.07.
On the men’s side, the fi rst-place fi nisher was
Chris Funch of Springfi eld, who competes in
Half-Ironman triathlons which consist of a 1.2-
Races continued on B3
This week’s athletes of the week are Konrad Raum
and Paesen Timm. After taking fi rst and second in
the 1500 at home on Thursday, the pair fi nished
sixth and 11th respectively at the Jim Robinson
Invitational on Saturday. With the times they
recorded last week, Raum now has the fastest time in
the 3000 in the 4A classifi cation and the fi fth fastest
time in the 1500. Timm is third in the 3000 and sixth
in the 1500 in 4A.
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