Colony grabs baseball victory over Houston

PALMER — Call it a bad bounce. Call it a fluke.

Colony called it an inning-ending double play.

With the bases loaded and his team trailing by a run, Houston hitter Wyatt Payne ducked to avoid a high offering from Colony pitcher Zachary Sattetly. But as Payne ducked, the barrel of his bat was left in the air. The pitch bounced off the bat and dribbled in front of the pitcher’s mound. Sattetly calmly tossed the ball to home to get the force out, and catcher Cole Doss made the throw to first for the double play.

The play killed a potential Houston rally, and Colony grabbed a 12-10 victory over the Hawks Wednesday night at Hermon Brothers Field in Palmer.

“I’ve never seen that before that was pretty wild,” Colony head coach Jordan Chadwell said after the win. “Our kids knew what to do. It’s just one of those things. The ball rolled our way that time.”

Colony also used three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to get past the Hawks in the game that featured lead changes in three of the final five innings.

“It got to the point to whoever can throw strikes is going to take that game,” Chadwell said. “We struggled getting it over the plate. They struggled getting it over the plate. In the end, it was just who could play baseball the right way at the end.”

Colony’s Cooper Smith pitched the final two innings to earn the win in relief. Smith was also a leader at the plate, finishing 5 for 5 with three RBI and a run scored.

“He’s been playing really well lately,” Chadwell said of Smith. “He put the bat on the ball.”

Smith’s fifth hit of the day came during Colony’s three-run sixth. He drove in Kolten Ketchum, the go-ahead run in the win. Cole Doss collected two hits and two runs in the win. Ketchum and Sattetly also scored twice. Frank Urbano drove in two runs.

Colony earned the win despite walking 15 Houston hitters in the game.

Houston jumped ahead of Colony in the fourth with a five-run inning. The Hawks added three runs in the sixth.

Sam Reed led the Hawks with three hits, two RBI and a run in the loss. Isaac Smolden added two hits, two RBI and a run. Kolby Talyor scored twice for the Hawks.

Colony played Palmer Thursday night, but results were not available prior to press time.

Wasilla rallies to win

Wasilla needed a big inning to get past Colony earlier this week.

The Warriors used seven runs in the fifth to score a 10-4 victory over the Knights Monday. Colony led 4-2 before the rally.

Nolan Monaghan finished 3 for 4 with three RBI and two runs scored in the win. Jeffrey Forester and Koby Burns had two hits each. Ben Werner and Ryan Perkins also scored twice.

Kolten Ketchum, Cooper McLaughlin and Joseph Ryan had two hits each for Colony. McLaughlin scored twice and Cole Doss drove in two runs.

Hank Boyer pitched five innings to earn the victory.

Warriors beat Hawks

Wasilla scored an 11-1 win over Houston Tuesday night.

Jimmy Arend, Ben Werner and Hank Boyer drove in two runs each for the Warriors.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.