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Cottage Grove Sentinel Sports & Recreation SOUTH LANE COUNTY SPORTS AND RECREATION Pleasant Hill records win in high-scoring contest • WEDNESDAY | APRIL 3, 2019 • B1 CONTACT SPORT EDITOR ZACH SILVA AT 942-3325 OR ZSILVA@CGSENTINEL.COM Reedsport holds off North Douglas Yoncalla soft ball falls at home By Zach Silva zsilva@cgsentinel.com While there may have been a diff erence in the scorebooks recording the stats of the game, one thing was abundantly clear: a lot of runs were scored when the Yoncalla and Pleasant Hill soft - ball teams met last Tues- day. Th e Yoncalla score book had the score down as a 30-16 Yoncalla loss while the offi cial score on OSAA was listed as 26-14. But regardless of the score, there was a shared feeling between the two sides about the nearly three-hour contest that saw a combined 41 batters walked. “It was a brutal game,” said Pleasant Hill head coach Jordan Goschie. “It was a rough one,” remarked Yoncalla head coach Shawn Garrett aft er the outing. Th e visiting Billies (4-2) jumped on the Eagles (2- 3) early scoring eight runs in the opening inning. Yoncalla responded with two runs of their own as they got the bases loaded. But the hits kept coming for Pleasant Hill as they led 22-4 going into the fourth inning. “I thought we had good, quality at-bats. Th at was the biggest thing and our energy stayed high no matter what the score was,” said Goschie. “Th ings we could improve on was base-running a lit- tle bit and cleaning up our errors. Other than that, it wasn’t too bad.” Goschie was working to not run-up the score as she was stopping run- ners from getting extra bases and ended the third inning by intentionally sending a runner from third early – with the bas- es loaded – to record the fi nal out of the inning. “Th ey didn’t hang their heads. Th ey would get upset if they struck out but they keep battling and I think they all re- alize they’re learning,” said Garrett. “As soon as the moment is over they’re understanding that they’re a better player today than they were yes- terday.” Th e morale for both sides was further tested in the fourth inning as pitching changes led to an onslaught of walks. In the top of the inning, 10 straight batters were walked by Yoncalla which resulted in Goschie again sending runners early to end the inning. Th ere were similar growing pains in the bottom of the inning with nine of 11 batters getting a free pass to fi rst base. In the bottom of the fi ft h the Yoncalla bats came alive as they contin- ued to get on base and put together a string of seven runs together. Leading the way in the rally and the game was Yoncalla’s Kieryn Carnes who re- corded a single and a tri- ple while Tayla Swearin- gen had a pair of singles. Garrett saw the late hit- ting explosion as a place to start moving forward EAGLES see B3 North Douglas junior Austin Frieze beats a throw home to score a run for the Warriors last Friday in a loss against sixth-ranked Reedsport. Behind ace pitcher Dallas McGill, Brave score victory By Zach Silva zsilva@cgsentinel.com To end the non-league por- tion of the schedule, North Douglas was tasked with the best team they have seen this season: Reedsport. But it was the sixth-ranked Brave (6-1) working their way to a 6-2 road win over the Warriors (4-1) last Friday. “First, to give them some credit, they’re probably in the conversation to win a state ti- tle,” said North Douglas head coach Jeff Davis. Adding, “We were a little nervous, we were a little tight because it’s Reedsport.” Last season Reedsport made its way to the quar- terfi nals and the year before the team fi nished second at state. A cornerstone to both those seasons was junior pitcher Dallas McGill who, as a freshman, pitched six in- nings of the state champion- ship game and was fi rst team all-state a season ago. With McGill getting the starting nod, he found suc- cess from the start striking out the fi rst three North Douglas batters of the game. In fi ve innings of work, Mc- Gill struck out nine batters and did not give up a hit. “Th at’s the way he throws,” said Reedsport head coach Jason Lavigne about his ace. “Very controlled. And Ty- ler (Th ornton who entered the game at pitcher in the sixth inning) – to pitch in these conditions and throw as many strikes as they did, that’s tough. Th eir cleats were loaded and those guys threw a lot of strikes and it’s tough. We’ve got a good pitching staff , pretty controlled, they run games pretty well.” For North Douglas, the team relied on a cast of pitch- ers for the game that includ- ed Brian Erickson, Colter Anderson, Waylon Beckham and Wyatt Beckham. Th e pitching crew struck out seven batters on the day and walked eight. “We haven’t walked sev- en guys all year long in four games and we walked sev- en in two or three innings. Th at’s mental stuff is really what it is. It has nothing to do with our physical skills,” said Davis. “Th at being said, other than in the sixth inning, they really didn’t hit the ball all that well. So in our mind, this would be the North Douglas spin on it, we pitch a little better, I think the defense was fi ne, it’s a one, two run game and you play those last two innings diff erently.” In that pivotal sixth in- ning, the Brave were able to extend their lead scoring three runs all with two outs. Reedsport started a string of hits with ground rule double from Nick Glover, followed by a single to center from Griffi n Lavigne and a triple from McGill that was com- pounded by a throwing error that took him home and gave the team a six-run advantage. With McGill off the mound in the bottom of the inning, the Warriors were able to mount a rally of their own. Singles from Erickson and Austin Frieze got runners on base. Aft er Koldan Frieze was walked, Wyatt Beckham had bases loaded and was able to hit a grounder to third that resulted in a throwing er- ror and a pair of runs being scored. Th e three hits in the inning were North Douglas’ only hits in the game. A pair of strikeouts ended the inning with the bases still loaded. “Th ere were hits and some walks and we had base run- ners on in both the sixth and the seventh. Give it some time, we’ve only been at this for three weeks,” said Davis. WARRIORS see B3 A little rain couldn’t slow Reedsport pitcher Dallas McGill. In fi ve innings of work McGill struck out nine batters and gave up no hits. Rain stalls start of season at Speedway Second race of season cancelled due to weather By Zach Silva zsilva@cgsentinel.com A race takes place at the Cottage Grove Speedway in previ- ously sunny days. The season has been pushed back due to the wet track. Athlete of the Week While the sun was still shining, the track was too wet to start the racing season at the Cottage Grove Speed- way. “I know it's a beautiful day, unfortunately we needed more than today to be this way to get things dried out and race ready. Th e track and pits are still really wet,” read a Facebook post from the Speedway last Saturday explaining the latest cancel- Th is week’s athlete of the week is Cottage Grove’s Wyatt Sayles. Sayles helped the Lions go 2-1 over spring break. To read more about Cottage Grove baseball, turn to B2. lation. “Trust me I wish we were racing it's just not pos- sible today. Hopefully the weather will cooperate soon and we can go racing!!!” Th e cancellation was the second of the year as the sea- son opener was cancelled on March 23 also due to poor weather conditions. Earlier this spring, Speedway gen- eral manager Heather Boyce noted that in sunny condi- tions the track can take a week to completely dry out. While it is not an especial- ly unusual for the weather to slow the start of the race season, those at the Speed- way are still hopeful that sun is right around the corner to get racing started. “Spring in Oregon can be beautiful or it can be wet and cold and unfortunately lately we have had a little too much of the wet and cold,” said a recent Speedway post. “We are all so ready to go rac- ing so let's keep our fi ngers crossed for a warm and DRY April so we can get back to having fun at Cottage Grove Speedway!!” As of now, the Speedway has events scheduled for April 6, 13 and 20. To stay up to date with the latest weath- er news, check the Speed- way’s website cottagegroves- peedway.com. Cottage Grove senior Wyatt Sayles throws to fi rst earlier this season. PHOTO C/O CGHS PHOTOGRAPHY
