MaxPreps Oregon Team of The Week: Cottage Grove baseball

Baseball has always been a thinking player's game, especially so for the Cottage Grove squad.

The Lions are off to an 8-2 start, which is a big deal considering before last season's 17-11 campaign, Cottage Grove was a combined 27-74 over the previous four seasons.

The team opened the season with five straight wins, then lost two in a row before opening up a current three-game win streak. The Lions have outscored opponents 99-35.

For its early success and hitting prowess, Cottage Grove is the MaxPreps Oregon Team of the Week, presented by the Oregon National Guard.

"The biggest reason for our turnaround," said coach Dan Geiszler, "is that our guys have bought in to what we are teaching. We start from the ground up in the preseason and they were on board from day one."

Geiszler said the Lions not only work diligently at practice, but on their own as well.

"We preach that you are your own best coach and they have ran with it," Geiszler said. "We have also implemented a lot of mental training into our program, from hour-long classroom sessions to five-minute on-the-field sessions. I believe the mental training has helped us improve a great deal."

It's showed. Especially at the plate, where the team is hitting .364, led by Elias Stock (14-for-24, .560, three doubles), Zach Thomason (10-for-26, .385), Payton Presley (13-for-31, .419, 13 hits, five for extra bases) and Hunter Harris (13-for-35, .331, 11 runs, 12 RBIs).

The top pitchers have been Tristan Mihan (3-0, 3.73 ERA), Brett Ollivant (2-0, 1.54) and Thomason (2-1, 2.80).

"Our biggest strength has been our offense," Geiszler said. "We have swung the bats very well and put together quality at-bats. Batters one through nine are all capable of getting a hit at any time."

And the program is a big hit with the players.

"I think a big strength of the program is that our kids get along very well and we have fun," Geiszler said.

That has made for a sterling season thus far, the coach said.

"I've been very pleased with our leadership and work ethic," Geiszler said. "Our kids have fun but work very hard in practice to improve. Our leadership has just been outstanding."

One of those senior leaders is Thomason, who, according to Geiszler, "has put a lot of time and effort into improving his game. His hard work is a great example to the rest of the team. He is our No. 1 pitcher on the mound and we will go as far as he takes us."

Presley is a junior shortstop.

"He's our spark plug," Geiszler said. "He is one of our only real vocal leaders. Payton knows the game and plays as hard as anyone."

Stock is a pleasant surprise, according to Geiszler said.

"He is a senior who we really didn't know what to expect from this season," the coach said. "So far he has led the team not only in batting average, but more importantly he's delivered in timely spots. He has had some big two-out RBIs. He's also played outstanding defense in the outfield."