B
S PORTS
Section B
Elks stun
Warriors
with wins
Wednesday, May 16, 2018
South Lane County Sports and Recreation
Contact Sports, 942-3325 or e-mail zsilva@cgsentinel.com
Lions do it again: Sky-Em Champs
Elkton gets series
win heading into the
fi nal week of play
By Zach Silva
zsilva@cgsentinel.com
Elkton’s head baseball
coach Bill Shaw may not be
a gambling man, but all his
bets seemed to pay off last
week for the Elkton baseball
team.
“It doesn’t usually go that
way as a coach…and it all
worked out. You want to put
the kids in the best possible
spot to have a chance,” said
Shaw.
In a three-game series
against their nearby rival
North Douglas, it was Shaw
pulling the right strings to
guide the Elks to two big wins
to draw within one game of
the Warriors – and the fourth
and fi nal league playoff spot
– heading into the fi nal week
of play.
On paper, North Douglas
has been the better team all
season; they have allowed the
least runs in the league and
were the fi rst team in league
to beat top-10 team Monroe.
“Our MO all year long has
been the inability to put two
games together,” said North
Douglas head coach Jeff Da-
vis. “And I just told them
again that sometimes when
we have success, we seem to
get a little giddy with that
success and just assume that
because things went our way
for an hour and a half or two
hours, that it’s going to con-
tinue.”
In the fi rst game of the se-
ries on May 8, it was Elkton
going to North Douglas and
coming away with a 1-0 vic-
tory in extra innings.
“If you would have asked
me three weeks ago if these
guys could win a 1-0 nine
inning game I would have
told you, you were nuts,” said
Shaw.
It was a battle of the pitch-
ers for both teams. Elkton’s
duo of Austin Luzier and
Brad Doudna struck out 16
batters while North Doug-
las’s combination of Carson
Burris and Brian Erickson
struck out 13.
Hyperaware of the pitch
count rules that dictate
required rest days based
on how many pitches are
thrown, Shaw’s plan going
into the game was to not let
either of his pitchers go above
60 pitches so they would be
able to throw on Friday.
“But it’s a 0-0 game at their
place with a chance to get in
the playoff s, you know. So I
left Bradley (Doudna) on the
mound and he went to…the
fi nish,” said Shaw.
In the ninth inning of the
game, Luzier’s double started
the inning off before he got
home on a passed ball to fi rst
for the only run of the game.
With Doudna not able to
pitch and at least one win se-
cured for the Elks, it was Lu-
zier who took the mound to
start the day on Friday May
11. But it didn’t last long.
“We get off to a bad start.
He’s 20 pitches in, we don’t
have an out and they’ve got
two runners on base. And I
know I need to win the series.
We’ve got to, you know,?"
said Shaw. “So I pull him
off the mound. I start mon-
keying things around and I
don’t know if it was right or
wrong, we end up getting
ten-runned, but it worked
out. It worked out the way I
dreamed it up.”
It seemed like more a
nightmare for the Elks in the
BASEBALL continued on B2
ottag e Grove' s Jacob Woods leads the boys team in a vi ctory lap after the team captured its third straight district title.
C
great group of kids,” said Cottage Grove
head coach Ricky Knutson. “We knew
the guys were going to be strong com-
ing into this year. We didn’t lose many to
graduation last year. Th e girls were more
of a question mark. You know the rea-
son we won the coed, obviously, the guys
were strong, but the girls were strong
with their depth.”
On the boys’ side, the team was domi-
nant across the board as they scored 209
points to take fi rst. Knutson, who has
been involved in the program for the past
13 seasons, could not remember a time
Cottage Grove scored over the 200-point
threshold. Last season they won with 162
points and the year before with 180. Th e
second place team this year, Sweet Home,
fi nished with 120 points.
“I had us around maybe scoring 190.
But you know to end up with that extra
19 points, that’s what happens every year.
Th e kids, they step up. And they per-
form,” said Knutson.
For the third year in a
row the Cottage Grove
boys win the team title and
combine with girls for coed
championship
By Zach Silva
zsilva@cgsentinel.com
Champions. Champions. Champions.
It was another successful weekend at
the Sky-Em Track and Field Districts
for the Cottage Grove track and fi eld
teams. Competing at Sisters High School
last Th ursday and Saturday, the Cottage
Grove boys won the team title for the
third year in a row. Additionally, the boys
and girls team combined scores led to the
third year in a row of winning the coed
team championship at the meet. Th e girls
team took third place overall.
“It’s hard to put it into words, they’re a
Th e team saw 21 diff erent athletes
score points in 16 of the 17 events (no
one scored in the 400) and had 10 ath-
letes and the 4x100 team qualify for the
state meet this week at Hayward Field.
Th ose going to Hayward that qualifi ed in
individual events include Jacob Woods
(100, 200, long jump), Juice Clafl in (110
hurdles, shot put), Jimmy Talley (3000),
Paesen Timm (3000), Konrad Raum
(1500), Hayden Glenn (300 hurdles),
Hunter Hall (shot put, javelin), Erick
Giff en (high jump), Takoda Brooks (pole
vault) and Mitchell Krokus (triple jump).
Th e 4x100 team of Woods, Clafl in, Glenn
and Cooper Ladd will also be competing.
On the girls’ side, the team fi nished
tied for third with Elmira at 109 points.
18 diff erent Lions scored points and Mat-
ty Ladd (high jump), Syndey Boxberger
(javelin) and Rhea Florez (800) will all be
competing at state.
Sisters took fi rst with 186 points and
Junction City second with 110.
PHOTOS BY ZACH SILVA/CG SENTINEL
“We’ve seen some great competition
over the course of the year…and so while
this is a big meet for us, it’s only six teams.
So we just want those kids confi dent that
they’re going to be able to compete at the
highest level next week with some of that
great competition,” said Knutson.
“A lot of those kids have been there
before. Hopefully that experience puts
them a little more at ease in terms of the
magnitude of the event.”
Th e state meet begins for Cottage
Grove on Friday and will continue on
Saturday. Th e fi rst events that the Lions
are involved in (boys 3000, boys pole
vault) begin at 9:45 a.m. Friday morning.
Tickets are $12 for adults and $5 for
students and can be bought online at
OSAA.org or onsite.
For more track and fi eld
coverage, turn to B3
Woods leads the way,
sets school record
Girls team takes third,
three headed to state
a J cob Woods (center) anchors Cottage Grove' s 4x1 00 relay team to a fi rst-place fi nish and a
spot in the state meet.
Cottage Grove 's Rhea Florez sprints to the fi nish line in the 800. l F orez's second place fi nish
qualifi ed her for the state meet.
By Zach Silva
zsilva@cgsentinel.com
Aft er the Cottage Grove boys track
and fi eld team ran away with the team
title, head coach Ricky Knutson was
discussing the team’s success: the indi-
vidual surprises, the heightened level of
success and then, the one constant.
“And I mean, obviously, Jacob Woods,”
he said.
Obviously, Jacob Woods.
Woods, who was voted Sky-Em ath-
lete of the meet by the coaches, seemed
to do it all during the Sky-Em Districts
as he won three individual events (100,
200 and long jump) and anchored the
winning 4x100 team.
Th e two-days of competition got
started for Woods on a high note as he
broke a 57-year old Cottage Grove High
School record. In the 100, Woods ran a
time of 10.92 to not only beat the com-
petition on the track but to take down
Jim Easley’s record of 10.94 that was set
in 1961.
“It was insane. Like the race itself kind
of felt a little slow at fi rst to me because
I was just really comfortable. But that’s
BOYS continued on B3
Athlete of
the Week
By Zach Silva
zsilva@cgsentinel.com
A point away from either fi nishing
in second or fourth place, the Cottage
Grove girls track and fi eld team fi nished
tied for third at last week’s district meet.
Th e competition got underway on
Th ursday and freshman Matty Ladd got
things started for the Lions as she won
the high jump clearing a winning height
of 5 feet 3 inches. Th is jump, a personal
best, ties Ladd for third best in the 4A
classifi cation heading into state. Th e
high jump competition begins at 10:30
This week’s athlete of the
week is Cottage Grove's
Mitchell Krokus. Krokus
continued to drastically
improve in the triple jump
last week as he won the
district meet in the event. To
read more turn to B3.
a.m. on Friday at Hayward Field.
Later in the day it was senior team-
mate Sydney Boxberger coming in sec-
ond in the javelin with a throw of 112
feet 2 inches. Th e javelin competition
begins Friday at 11 a.m.
On Saturday, it was another freshman
from Cottage Grove, this time Rhea Flo-
rez, punching her ticket to state with a
second-place fi nish in the 800.
“I had the second fastest time to the
girl that beat me so I was trying not to
get too psyched out but at the same time
like, I thought that I could at least try my
GIRLS continued on B3
Mitchell Krokus
competes in
the triple jump
at districts on
Saturday.
PHOTO C/O GARRETT
BRIDGENS