Big inning lifts Juneau past Knights

ANCHORAGE — In the state baseball tournament, there’s not much room for error, especially if your first-round opponent is the defending state champion.

Juneau-Douglas used one big inning to crush Colony’s hope of moving forward, using Kyle Gould’s grand slam to post a 6-3 win over the previously undefeated Knights during the first round of the ASAA/First National Bank State Baseball Championships at Mulcahy Stadium in Anchorage Thursday afternoon.

“One bad inning. A couple of mental mistakes, one hanging curve ball and that was the end of it,” Colony head coach Jordan Chadwell said of the Bears’ four-run third.

Gould knocked the ball over the left centerfield fence to lead the Bears to a come-from-behind victory and push the defending state champion into the semifinals.

The Knights led 3-0 going into the bottom of the third, but Juneau loaded the bases with no outs. Tai Norvell led off with a single and Tod Baseden was hit by a pitch. Jackson Lehnhart reached on a bunt single to load the bases.

“It’s one of those things. Small mistakes can kill you, and small mistakes killed us today,” Chadwell said. “And Juneau’s a good team. They’re going to take advantage of those mistakes, too.”

Not only did Juneau score four of its six runs during the third, but also collected four of its six hits during the inning.

“We have to play quality ball to be quality teams. Outside that inning, I thought we did. But we made too many mistakes,” Chadwell said.

Colony senior ace Jonathon Boyer was tagged with the grand slam. But Boyer was a workhorse for the Knights, pitching a six-inning complete game.

“He’s a great pitcher. His mental approach to the game, his knowledge of the game keeps him in the game even when his body is not 100 percent,” Chadwell said. “His pitch count was getting up there, but he was being a really intelligent pitcher.”

Boyer fanned 10 Crimson Bears in the loss, walked three and allowed only two earned runs. Gould’s home run was also Juneau’s only extra-base hit of the game.

Boyer entered the game with a perfect 0.00 earned run average. Chadwell praised Boyer for his ability to overcome the rough inning.

“His head is always in the game. He doesn’t get down on himself like a lot of guys in baseball do,” Chadwell said. By going a full six innings, Boyer also helped keep the rest of the staff fresh for the remainder of the tournament.

“That makes a big difference. That means we can start guys we want to start,” Chadwell said.

Colony jumped to an early lead with a three-run second inning. Junior Ben Ross reached on a Juneau error to lead off the inning, and quickly scored on a Jacob Butcher single. After Logan Sanders kept the inning alive with another single, Zane Mileur cleared the bases with a two-run single that gave the Knights the 3-0 lead.

Butcher led the Knights with two hits in the game. Mileur, Sanders, Morgan McJimsey and Matt Palmer each finished with a single in the loss.

The Knights return to the diamond today at 1 p.m. in an elimination game.