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