Knights bat around Mariners in big win

PALMER — It’s hard to say who got the better workout Thursday evening — the Colony hitters, spraying baseballs all over Hermon Brothers Field; the Colony base runners, taking laps around the Hermon Brothers diamond; or Colony head coach Jamie Mayo, waving all of those runners home.

Colony used 12 hits to score 15 times during a 15-5 mercy rule five-inning win over the Homer Mariners Thursday in the first round of the Southcentral Conference Championships at Hermon Brothers in Palmer.

“I think tonight, if you took an overall view of how these guys hit the ball as a team, one through nine, this is probably the hardest they hit as a group,” Mayo said. “It wasn’t one or two guys. It was everybody.”

Taylor Palmer singled three times, scored three times and drove in three runs. Aaron Butcher singled twice, scored twice and drove in two runs. Jonathon Boyer doubled, tripled and drove in two runs. Morgan McJimsey singled, doubled and tripled while driving in two runs and scoring two others.

A half-dozen Knights notched run-scoring hits in the game.

Colony did the bulk of its damage during a 10-run third. Trailing 2-1 with two outs in the bottom of the inning, the Knights put together an almost unbelievable third-inning run. McJimsey sparked the rally with a two-out double to left field. He quickly scored on a Palmer single. Boyer and Damon Hammer followed, reaching on errors in back-to-back at bats.

Hammer’s at bat was key during the run. With two men on, Hammer hit a shot to center field, which appeared to be en route to becoming the Knights’ third out. But the ball glanced off the center fielder’s glove and two runs scored to give the Knights the 5-2 lead.

The play kept Colony alive in the inning and the Knights quickly ballooned their lead to 11-2. In all, 10 consecutive Colony batters in the inning took the tour around the diamond and crossed home plate.

McJimsey collected two hits, two runs and two RBI in the third inning alone.

While the likes of Boyer, Palmer and Hammer were expected to be among the leaders for the Knights, Mayo said McJimsey has been a nice surprise.

“Coming into this game he was hitting like .540, leading the team in hits, doubles, triples and RBI as a sophomore hitting in the second spot in the order,” Mayo said. “This is a kid we almost kept on JV.”

Homer did stave off the potential of the 10-run mercy rule temporarily, scoring twice in the top of the fourth and again in the top of the fifth, but the Knights were able to strike again in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Butcher, McJimsey, Palmer and Boyer recorded consecutive hits. Butcher singled and scored on a McJimsey triple. McJimsey scored on a Palmer single. Boyer doubled home Palmer.

Pinch runner Eddie Lee crossed home plate on a Hammer single to invoke the mercy rule.

Boyer pitched five innings to earn the win.

Colony is now a win away from its fourth straight trip to the state tournament. The Knights face Soldotna tonight at 7, with the winner heading to the Southcentral title game and the state tourney.

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