Lions softball’s offense heats up; Orton takes over Colts boys basketball

Athlete of the Week
Daphnie Heckel – Thurston Softball

The senior catcher was 9-for-9, with four home runs, two doubles, 10 RBI, and 11 runs scored in Thurston’s sweep of Springfield.
Top Stories, Recaps & More
COTTAGE GROVE – The Cottage Grove Lions might have felt like it just was not going to be their day this past Friday. They had lost 7-0 on Tuesday, and…
THURSTON – Eric Orton has been promoted to head boys basketball coach at his alma mater. Orton, who starred for Thurston as a senior in 2002 when the Colts won…
SPRINGFIELD – Lucas Geren, who joined the Drifters at the end of last season and will return this summer, pitched another gem for Lane Community College, throwing 6.2 scoreless innings…
CRESWELL (19-4, 12-0, #4) Leading off: The Bulldogs bring their 14-game winning streak into the final week of the regular season. The win streak is the longest for the…
CRESWELL went 3-0 this week to extend its winning streak to 14 games. On Tuesday, the Bulldogs defeated rival Pleasant Hill for the third time this year, 5-3. The…
PLEASANT HILL (11-7, 8-4, #15) Leading off: The Billies have a league home doubleheader against No. 39 Sisters (1-15, 0-11) on Friday, to finish the league season. Earlier this…
THURSTON swept Springfield last week, getting its first three wins of the season. Tuesday’s game finished 19-1 in four innings, with the Colts scoring 13 in the top of…
THURSTON competed at the 76th Grants Pass Rotary Invitational. Kelsie Raven won the women’s 100m hurdles with a time of 14.81 seconds and the triple jump with a…
In Case You Missed It
Youthful Colts learning the hard way

THURSTON – The Crater Comets may have been the No. 1 team in the state before their Saturday doubleheader against the Thurston Colts, but the Colts had won 15 games in a row over the visitors from Central Point.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Comets were one out away from breaking their losing streak, which dated back to 2018. With two outs, no one on base and a four-run lead, the Comets should have cruised to victory.
However, a controversial safe call and a fortuitous bounce off the knob of Jackson Lane’s bat gave the Colts a sliver of hope. Comets starter Alex Johnson reached his pitch limit of 110, so reliever Zach Harrington entered the game. Colts sophomore Levi Woodman worked a walk to load the bases and bring the tying run to the plate.
Luke Blair smashed a double down the left-field line to score two runs and put himself, still the tying run, in scoring position. Blair was the only Colt with more than one hit, going 3-for-4 on the day.





















