Knights get win on 2nd day, but finish tourney 1-2

ANCHORAGE — The Colony Knights found themselves in unfamiliar territory Friday. The Knights were coming off a loss.

But Colony, which entered the state tournament undefeated, bounced back from a tough first-round loss to Juneau-Douglas with a 7-2 win over West Valley in the consolation semifinals of the ASAA/First National Bank State Baseball Championships Friday at Mulcahy Stadium in Anchorage.

Jacob Butcher pitched a complete game and Jonathon Boyer collected three hits to help the Knights stay alive and rebound from Thursday’s 6-3 loss to defending state champion Juneau.

“We made the adjustments we needed to make today,” Colony head coach Jordan Chadwell said after the win.

West Valley jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead with a pair of first-inning runs, but Colony scored seven unanswered to earn the win. Butcher also settled in on the mound, and used a seven-inning, 99-pitch effort to earn his first career victory in the state tournament.

“I was confident the whole way through,” Butcher said after the win. “I struggled in the first inning, but I just had to keep them out of my head and stay in my own game.”

John Lovell tagged Butcher with a two-run double in the bottom of the first to give the Wolfpack the early lead. Butcher allowed four hits in the first inning, but only six total hits in the game. He also fanned eight, while walking only three. It was the second straight complete game for the Knights in the tournament. Boyer made the start on Thursday and pitched a complete game against the Bears.

“He’s another mentally strong kid like Jon,” Chadwell said of Butcher. “He knows he has to stay mentally in the game. He does a good job of doing that.”

Colony was able to quickly rebound from West Valley’s two-run first, with three runs in the top of the second. The Knights collected three singles in the inning and took advantage of West Valley mistakes.

Ryan Judd and Zane Mileur recorded back-to-back singles with one out. Judd scored on a Matt Palmer ground out to cut West Valley’s lead to 2-1. Logan Sanders drew a two-out walk, and Morgan McJimsey reached on an error. Both Mileur and Sanders scored on the error to give the Knights the 3-2 lead.

“That was really a relief,” Butcher said of the Knights scoring three in the second to take the lead. “I knew that as long as I keep them off balance with the breaking pitch, I could at least hold them until we could score more runs.”

Butcher reached on a fielder’s choice and scored on a Shane Andrews double in the fifth to extend Colony’s lead to 4-2, but the Knights blew the game open in the sixth.

Zach Vera led off the inning with a single and Sanders walked to put a pair of Knights on. McJimsey followed with a double to deep left center field and cleared the bases.

Jeremy Compton, who was pinch-running for McJimsey, scored late in the inning on a Ben Ross ground out.

Boyer finished the game 3 for 4 at the plate. Andrews and Palmer each had a pair of hits. McJimsey led the Knights with two RBI.

Kings edge Knights

ANCHORAGE — Ketchikan scored a pair of late runs to edge Colony 4-2 in the bracket’s fourth-place game Saturday morning.

Ketchikan held a 1-0 lead after three and a 2-1 advantage after five innings, but the Knights plated a run in the sixth to tie the game at 2.

Matt Palmer and Shane Andrews drove in runs for Colony. Colony finished sixth in the tournament and ended the season with an 11-2 record.

Contact jeremiah Bartz at 352-2273 or

sports@frontiersman.com.