CHS sluggers enjoy hot start at the plate

WASILLA — The weather may still be a little chilly for softball, but that hasn’t affected a hot start at the plate for Colony.

Topping Railbelt Conference rival West Valley 7-2 on Thursday, the Knights continued a hot start to their season, which began with pair of losses in a season-opening doubleheader on Tuesday. Colony ripped 16 hits off East pitching, but committed a handful of errors that allowed the Thunderbirds an 11-10 win. The Knights followed with a 17-6 loss to South.

Playing at their home field, the Alcantra Sports Complex, the Knights not only tallied a mark in the win column Thursday, they played a complete game at the plate and in the field, said head coach Mike Stewart.

That teamwork was encouraging to see so early in the season, he said, adding he’s at a loss as to why they have started so hot at the plate.

“I have been amazed at how this team has hit so far,” the coach said. “I really thought that’s where we’d struggle early. But that’s not the case. In that first game (against East) we had 16 hits, seven of those for extra bases. They just crushed the ball and I was just, like, ‘whoa.’”

That offensive success seems to have boosted Colony’s confidence in the field as well, Stewart said. After committing some costly errors in their opening day games, the Knights had three errors against the Wolfpack. Those led to West Valley’s only points when the game was basically out of reach in the final innings.

“I saw a lot different play that we had on Tuesday,” the coach said. “Our play was good and our defense was way better.”

Setting the tone early for the Knights was sophomore pitcher Olivia Martin, who struck out two of the first four batters she faced and forced West Valley hitters into numerous ground-ball outs. Working with sophomore catcher Sam Everett behind the plate, the pair makes for an imposing battery that promises to be dominant for several years, Stewart said.

“She is one of the better pitchers, I think, in the state when she’s on,” the coach said of Martin. “She pitched the first game Tuesday, too, and it should’ve been a way lower score, but we had a lot of errors.”

Everett also played solid behind the dish, including a run-saving tag-out that, to that point, preserved a Colony shutout. Trailing the Knights 4-0, West Valley tried to mount an offensive charge. With one out, Courtney Evans belted a line-drive double that rolled under the centerfield fence for a ground-rule double. After getting the next batter to pop out for the inning’s second out, an error allowed Evans to take third base. When she tried to stretch the play into a scoring run at home plate, Everett was there to absorb the collision, hold onto the ball and make the inning-ending out.

“She’s a great little catcher and she’s only a sophomore this year,” Stewart said.

Colony got out of the gate early in the first inning. After Martin shut down the West Valley side on 15 pitches, the Knights jumped on the scoreboard early.

Leading off, Martin drew a walk, advanced to second on an error and scored on a passed ball. Junior shortstop Devan Clark got the RBI and eventually would score on an error, putting Colony up 2-0 after the first stanza.

A fast six outs closed the second inning and brought the Knights to the plate in the third, where they extended the lead to 4-0. Batting in the No. 9 hole, right fielder Mikki Anderson singled and Clark drew a walk to put two Knights on base for Karli Dreyer. Dreyer smoked a solid double to centerfield to score Anderson and Clark and pick up two RBI.

Colony extended the lead to 6-0 with another pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth inning before West Valley could attempt a comeback. The Wolfpack scored once in the fifth to avoid a shutout and again in the sixth, but it wasn’t enough.

Although it’s still early in the season, Stewart said he’s impressed with the Knights’ potential for 2011. After finishing fourth in the conference last year with a record near .500, he’s expecting better things this season.

“I’m feeling good,” he said. “I think we made a lot of improvements from the first two games we played. If we keep playing like this, we’ll have a good shot to win a lot of games.”

It was also important to snag a win Thursday, putting Colony at 1-0 to start conference play.

“That’s really good, because we have to go up there and play them again, so it’s nice to take the game down here and get up on everybody in the conference,” Stewart said. “I think we should finish in the top three of conference. I mean, Juneau is always at the top, they’re perennial state champs, so we’re always trying to knock them off.”

To do that, the Knights will have to make the most of their opportunities. And for one of them, Thursday was a good start. Coming in as a courtesy runner in the fifth inning, Benedict Jensen not only ran the bases, she did it in style. The exchange student from Norway is playing her first softball, but when she took first base with two outs, she quickly stole second base, then third.

Seconds after Stewart advised her she couldn’t steal home, Jensen was sprinting toward the plate on a passed ball. She slid in under the tag of the West Valley catcher, prompting an explosion of cheers from the Colony bench.

“We looked at her and said, ‘hmm, courtesy runner,’” Stewart said. “Anytime the catcher or pitcher gets up and we need a runner, she’s the one we go with. She has a lot of speed.”

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.