THE MAIN EVENT: SOFTBALL
#6 PLEASANT HILL (2-0) VS. #14 HARRISBURG (2-0)
■ Series facts: Tuesday, March 19 at Pleasant Hill, 4:30 p.m. … Friday, March 22 at Harrisburg, 2 and 4:30 p.m.
■ Leading off: The Billies face off with Harrisburg in a three-game series between the top two teams in the Mountain Valley Conference last season. Pleasant Hill, the defending conference champs, went 2-1 against Harrisburg last season. One of these two teams has won the past four MVC titles, so the winner of this week’s series puts themselves on the fast track to a conference title.
BASEBALL, SOFTBALL PREVIEWS
BASEBALL PREVIEWS
COTTAGE GROVE: 3-0, RANKED #4
■ Leading off: The Lions travel to the Volcanos Spring Break Tournament at the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes Stadium on Thursday-Sunday. Juniors Micah Spear and Devon Accord both had solid week ones – on the mound and at bat – for CG and will be key this week as the Lions have four games in as many days.
CRESWELL: 2-1, RANKED #8
■ Leading off: Creswell begins Mountain Valley Conference play this week against Siuslaw. Siuslaw grabbed the fourth and final postseason bid from the MVC last season, so Friday’s home doubleheader will be a good early test for new coach Kevin Feist and the Bulldogs.
PLEASANT HILL: 2-1, RANKED #21
■ Leading off: The Billies start the Mountain Valley Conference season this week with games against Harrisburg – the team that came in last in the conference a season ago. Pitching trio Caden Richardson, Kaden Fisher, and Alejandro Ziolkowski will likely all get starts this week for Pleasant Hill.
SPRINGFIELD: 1-2, RANKED #10
■ Leading off: The Millers have the Springfield Tournament on Monday-Wednesday of next week, with games against Elmira, South Eugene, and Roseburg on the schedule. Roseburg was a quarterfinal team in Class 6A last season and will be the biggest test of the tournament for senior infielder Alex King and the Millers.
THURSTON: 1-1, RANKED #14
■ Leading off: Thurston hosts preseason No. 7 Crescent Valley this week before flying to Arizona for the Coach Bob National Invitational next Monday-Friday. Senior leadoff batter Adam Elliott has been the engine on offense through one week and will be key against top competition in Arizona.
SOFTBALL PREVIEWS
COTTAGE GROVE: 3-1, RANKED #11
■ Leading off: Cottage Grove hosts Mazama in a doubleheader on Thursday before playing Class 3A No. 4 Pleasant Hill on Monday. Junior pitcher Emily Pacheco leads the way for the Lions after totaling 44 strikeouts in four appearances on the mound last week.
CRESWELL: 1-1, RANKED #21
■ Leading off: Creswell’s Mountain Valley Conference season begins this week against last season’s last-place finisher Siuslaw. With a clear preseason top-two MVC teams in Pleasant Hill and Harrisburg, senior pitcher Hope Ukolov and the Bulldogs can’t afford an early stumble if they want to keep pace in the conference race.
SPRINGFIELD: 0-3, RANKED #27
■ Leading off: The Millers head across the river this weekend for the North Eugene Tourney Saturday-Monday. Springfield is scheduled to face Cleveland, North Salem, and Elmira as coach Jessica Branson and the Millers look for their first win of the season.
THURSTON: 0-2, RANKED #23
■ Leading off: Thurston searches for its first win of the season this week with games against South Albany and Wilsonville. Wilsonville is the No. 4 team in the preseason coaches poll and made the semifinals last season before falling to eventual champion Dallas/Perrydale. Thurston is led by a slew of top returners, including outfielder Syren Ferguson, catcher Bailey Tovey, and shortstop Emily Spain.
WEEKLY RECAPS
BASEBALL RECAPS
■ Cottage Grove had a 3-0 start to the season, beating Creswell 9-6 and sweeping a doubleheader against Klamath Union. In the Creswell win, Micah Spear had 1 hit, 1 run, and 3 RBI, while Devon Accord had 3 hits and 2 runs. In the KU wins, Trevor Cooper had 3 hits, 2 runs, and 3 RBI in a 13-5 victory, while Malakai Agnes had 7 Ks in the 11-2 Game Two win.
■ Creswell started new coach Kevin Feist’s era with a 4-0 win over Santiam Christian as Cavan Hanneman finished with 1 hit and 2 RBI. After a loss to Cottage Grove, the Bulldogs bounced back with a 12-0 win over Willamina thanks to 2 hits, 2 runs, and 2 RBI from Tyler Pratt, as well as 2 hits, 1 run, and 3 RBI from Landon Palmer.
■ Springfield took a few tries before earning its first win under new head coach Alan Embree with a 15-2 victory over Woodburn in Game Two of a doubleheader. Senior Alex King led the way with 3 hits, 2 runs and 4 RBI, while Zack Sherman and Abe Rhoades each scored three times on the day.
SOFTBALL RECAPS
■ Cottage Grove started the season 3-1 in a busy schedule. The Lions opened the season with an 11-0 win over Creswell behind 18 Ks from Emily Pacheco, who also had 2 hits and 3 runs on offense. After falling to No. 7 Cascade 4-0, CG bounced back with a doubleheader sweep over Springfield, 18-2 and 3-0. Pacheco had 4 hits, 3 runs and 4 RBI in Game One, and June Thornton chipped in 2 hits, 2 runs, and 4 RBI.
■ Creswell fell 11-0 to Cottage Grove on opening day before winning a 12-11 thriller over Toledo on Friday. Down 11-8 heading into the bottom of the 6th inning, the Bulldogs scored 4 runs to earn the win. Regan Gwaltney finished with 2 hits, 2 runs, and 4 RBI, Lauren Bailey added 4 RBI, and Hope Ukolov had 6 Ks on the mound.
■ Pleasant Hill had a dominant 2-0 week to open the season, beating Amity 13-0 and Springfield 15-2. Piper Fisher had 2 hits, 2 runs, and 2 RBI against Amity, and Karley Bloxham pitched the full 6 innings and struck out 6. Raigan Obie led the way against Springfield, finishing with 3 hits, 3 runs, and 2 RBI.
■ Springfield’s opening week saw the Millers fall three times: 15-2 to Pleasant Hill, and 18-2 and 3-0 in a doubleheader against Cottage Grove. Chloe Sankey finished the Pleasant Hill loss with 2 hits and 1 run, while Lillian Wobbe led the way in Game Two against CG with 15 Ks on the mound.
■ Thurston had a tough opening week as the Colts fell 16-0 to the defending Class 6A champs Sheldon and 11-0 against Class 5A No. 10 West Albany. Syren Ferguson had 2 hits against West Albany, and Kasey Ogan had 3 strikeouts on the mound.
GOLF RECAPS
■ Thurston boys won the Siuslaw Invitational Golf Tournament last weekend with a team score of 311 – 36 shots ahead of the second-place finishers. Peyton Wiedenmann was the tournament winner, posting a 2-under-par 70. The Colts followed that up by winning the first Midwestern League event of the year at Roseburg thanks to Wiedenmann shooting a 73. Olivia Grandberry won the individual title for the girls side for Thurston as well with a career low 72.
CONFERENCE CALL
Weekly notes from around our area teams’ conferences:
Crater relay wins indoor national championship
■ The Crater Comets distance medley relay (DMR) team traveled to the Nike Indoor Nationals at The Armory in New York City and won the championship division. The DMR team consists of junior Tayvon Kitchen (1,200 meters), junior Nicholas Kube (400), senior Caleb Doddington (800), and junior Josiah Tostenson (1,600). The Comets won the race with a time of 10:00.06, beating out a team from Dreamville, Fla., by 0.19 seconds. The DMR win was Crater’s third national title in a one-year span after winning the New Balance Nationals Indoor in Boston last winter and the Nike Outdoor Nationals in Eugene last summer.
Marist baseball splits doubleheader with preseason No. 1
■ Marist Catholic baseball, the No. 5 team in the Class 4A preseason coaches poll, split a doubleheader on Saturday with No. 1 Scappoose – the defending state champions. Marist took Game One of the day 4-3 as Peyton Tyner had 3 hits, 2 runs, and 1 RBI, and pitcher Niko Leyba struck out 5 batters in 4 innings. Scappoose answered back in Game Two with a 7-5 win to split the series.
RESULTS/SCHEDULES
RESULTS
BASEBALL
Tuesday, March 13
■ Creswell 4, Santiam Christian 0
■ Pleasant Hill 10, Springfield 2
Wednesday, March 14
■ Cottage Grove 9, Creswell 6
■ Marist 11, Pleasant Hill 1
■ Sheldon 7, Thurston 5
Friday, March 15
■ Creswell 12, Willamina 0
■ PHHS 7, Brookings-Harbor 3
■ Woodburn 13, Springfield 7
■ Springfield 15, Woodburn 2
Saturday, March 16
■ CGHS 13, Klamath Union 5
■ CGHS 11, Klamath Union 2
Monday, March 18
■ Thurston 14, Summit 4
SOFTBALL
Wednesday, March 14
■ Cottage Grove 11, Creswell 0
Thursday, March 14
■ Pleasant Hill 13, Amity 0
■ West Albany 11, Thurston 0
Friday, March 15
■ Cascade 5, Cottage Grove 0
■ Creswell 12, Toledo 11
■ Pleasant Hill 15, Springfield 2
Monday, March 18
■ Cottage Grove 18, Springfield 2
■ Cottage Grove 3, Springfield 0
SCHEDULES
BASEBALL
Thursday, March 21
■ Dayton at CGHS (Salem-Keizer Volcanoes Stadium), 6:30 p.m.
Friday, March 22
■ Siuslaw at CHS, 2 and 4:30 p.m.
■ PHHS at Harrisburg, 2 and 4:30 p.m.
■ CGHS at Catlin Gabel (Salem-Keizer Stadium), 4:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 23
■ Cottage Grove at Oakridge (Salem-Keizer Stadium), 11:30 a.m.
Sunday, March 24
■ Cottage Grove at Reedsport (Salem-Keizer Stadium), 4:30 p.m.
Monday, March 25
■ Thurston at Crismon (Ariz.) (Coach Bob National Invitational, Crismon HS), 6 p.m.
■ Elmira at Springfield (Springfield Tournament), 7 p.m.
Tuesday, March 26
■ Creswell at Glide, noon
■ South Eugene at Springfield (Springfield Tournament), 4 p.m.
■ Thurston at Monarch (CO) (Coach Bob National Invitational, West Point HS, Ariz.), 4 p.m.
■ Thurston at Mullen (Colo.) (Coach Bob National Invitational, West Point HS, Ariz.), 7 p.m.
Wednesday, March 27
■ Roseburg at Springfield (Springfield Tournament), 10 a.m.
■ Douglas at Pleasant Hill (Challenger Classic, Harry & David Field), 12:30 p.m.
Thursday, March 28
■ Pleasant Hill vs. TBD (Challenger Classic, Harry & David Field), TBD
■ CGHS at Hidden Valley, noon
■ Thurston at Lake Park (IL) (Coach Bob National Invitational, West Point HS, Ariz.), 1 p.m.
SOFTBALL
Thursday, March 21
■ Mazama at CGHS, 3 and 5 p.m.
■ Wilsonville at Thurston, 4 p.m.
Friday, March 22
■ Siuslaw at Creswell, 2 and 4:30 p.m.
■ Pleasant Hill at Harrisburg, 2 and 4:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 23
■ Cleveland at Springfield (North Eugene Tournament), 2 p.m.
Sunday, March 24
■ Springfield at North Salem (N. Eugene Tournament), 1:30 p.m.
Monday, March 25
■ Thurston at Central (North Medford Spring Break Tour.), 10 a.m.
■ Elmira at Springfield (North Eugene Tournament), 11 a.m.
■ Yreka (Calif.) at Thurston (N. Medford Spring Break Tourn.), 2 p.m.
■ Pleasant Hill at Cottage Grove, 4:30 p.m.
Tuesday, March 26
■ Thurston at Redmond (N. Medford Spring Break Tour.), 10 a.m.
■ Caldera at Thurston (North Medford Spring Break Tour.), noon
Thursday, March 28
■ Cottage Grove vs. TBD (Hidden Valley Tournament), TBD
TRACK & FIELD
Saturday, March 23
■ Cottage Grove, Creswell, Springfield, Thurston at Harvey Lewellen Throws Invitational (THS), 9 a.m.
