Knights ‘keep the pressure’ in win over Moose

PALMER — Colony head coach Jordan Chadwell said the Knights coaching staff has had a message for his players during the early stretch of the 2017 season.

“Keep the pressure,” Chadwell said.

And that’s what he saw Friday night.

Colony used 10 hits and eight walks to score a 16-5 win over rival Palmer at the Palmer Senior Field.

“They hit well tonight. It was good to see that,” Chadwell said. “We kept it going all night. It’s something we’ve been talking about the last couple of games. No let up.”

Kolten Ketchum and Zachary Satterly each drove in three runs to help Colony bounce back from a loss to Wasilla Thursday. Trace Severson and Cole Doss led the Knights with three runs each. Eight of the nine in the lineup scored at least a run, and a half-dozen scored at least two runs for the Knights. Seven Knights finished with at least one hit. Severson and Satterly led Colony with two hits each.

“We’ve got the talent. We’ve got the speed. We’ve got the bats. It’s just a matter of them having the confidence to do it in the field,” Chadwell said.

Colony enjoyed a big second inning, breaking a 1-1 tie with five in the bottom of the frame. The first five Colony hitters in the inning scored. Christopher Sereyko followed Joe Ryan’s leadoff walk with a double, and both scored on a Jeremy Allen single to give the Knights a 3-1 lead. Cooper Smith used a run-scoring single to add to the advantage, and Kolten Ketchum drove in another run to push Colony’s lead to 5-1. Cole Doss scored on a Palmer error to round out the scoring in the inning.

After Palmer added a run in the third, Colony answered with five more runs in the bottom of the inning. Five of Colony’s six hitters in the order crossed the plate. Colony benefited by three walks, two wild pitches and a Palmer error in the inning. Severson also recorded an RBI.

Colony also plated five runs in the fourth. Ketchum drove in two with a single to right field. Satterly added an RBI double.

Brady Shults led the Moose with a big at-bat in the fifth inning. Shults tripled to right center field with the bases loaded. Caleb Engst, Luke Guggenmos and Skyler Hale all scored on the hit. Shults was one of six Moose with a hit in the loss. Five different Palmer players scored runs.

Stars rally past Hawks

The Soldotna Stars proved even a double-digit lead is not safe.

Soldotna used a dozen runs in the final three innings to score a 17-15 come-from-behind win over the Houston Hawks Friday evening.

Houston led 15-5 heading into the fourth inning. The Hawks had led 3-0 after the first and 8-3 in the second before plating seven runs in the third.

The teams combined for the 32 runs and 33 hits in the Southcentral Conference match. Soldotna finished with 20 hits. Houston had 13.

Kendall Ruta led the Hawks from his lead-off spot, going 3 for 3 with two RBI and three runs scored. Kolby Taylor was 2 for 5 with three runs scored and two driven in. Wyatt Payne, Ethan Giddings and Kade Taylor scored two runs each. Ruta was one of five Hawks with two RBI in the loss.

Stars run past Moose

Soldotna scored at least four runs in four different innings en route to a 20-9 win over Palmer Thursday night in Palmer.

James Nelson finished with three hits for Palmer. Cody Grogan was 2 for 2, with two runs and two RBI. Aaron Christiansen also had two hits. Skyler Hale and Anthony Jones added two runs each.

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