Knights knock out Hawks

PALMER — The Houston Hawks pitchers probably grew fairly tired of seeing Colony seniors Colter Peterson and Kody Ziter step up to the plate Tuesday night.

Peterson, No. 3 in the lineup, recorded three hits and Ziter, in the cleanup spot, drove in three runs to lead the Knights to a 7-1 nonconfernece win over the Hawks at Hermon Brothers Field in Palmer.

“The heart of their lineup was always coming up when they had runners in scoring position,” Houston sophomore Scott Kramer said.

Peterson and Ziter helped the Knights score seven unanswered runs in the victory. Peterson scattered three singles across the Hermon Brothers outfield. Ziter drove in runs in three different innings, but only had to swing his bat once.

In the bottom of the third, Ziter drew a bases loaded walk to push a run across the plate and tie the score at 1. In the sixth, at the plate with the bases loaded once again, Ziter grabbed the easy RBI when he was hit by a pitch.

Ziter also collected an RBI-single during Colony’s four-run fifth.

Colony did the bulk of its damage in that fifth inning, hitting Houston starter Josh Grissom for four runs and five hits.

“We had a lax inning in the fifth,” Grissom said.

Ziter, Mike Wagner and Srebernak each posted run-scoring singles in the inning. Peterson and Taylor Palmer also singled and scored runs.

“All of their little dinks were just dropping,” Kramer said.

JD Mayo and Damon Hammer also drew walks in the inning.

“They gave us a couple of extra outs in the fifth inning and our guys were able to get the runs across,” Colony head coach Jamie Mayo said.

Colony added a pair of runs in the sixth. Jonathon Boyer drew a lead-off walk and scored. Palmer was hit by a pitch and scored.

Houston collected three singles during the first inning, and Kramer singled and scored to give the Hawks the 1-0 lead.

After allowing that run, Wagner — Colony’s starter — scattered three Houston hits over the next five innings.

Grissom started strong for the Hawks, allowing only one hit and one earned run through four innings. The sophomore fanned two hitters. But oddly, one of those strikeouts led to Colony’s first run.

AC Schmer swung and missed the strike, but the ball got past the Houston catch. Schmer reached safely and was able to score on Ziter’s bases-loaded walk in the third.

Despite that, Grissom gave credit to his defense during a smooth first four innings.

“I felt like we came out and hustled through the first four innings,” Grissom said. “I had great defense behind me. All my fielders played well.”

Colony, which beat Wasilla 15-8 on Monday, has a pair of regular season games left before heading into next week’s state tournament. The Knights meet rival Palmer in a double-header at Hermom Brothers Saturday. The foes meet at 11 a.m. and then in the annual “Wood Bat Game” at 2 p.m.

The Hawks caps their season this weekend at their Houston Invitational Tournament, which started Thursday at Houston High School. The Hawks face Monroe today at 4 p.m. and Soldotna Saturday at 1 p.m. in the four-team round robin event.

Kodiak grabs final berth

The Kodiak Bears will join Colony in the ASAA/First National Bank State Baseball Championships next week at Hermon Brothers.

Kodiak used a 7-1 win over Wasilla on Wednesday in Kodiak to secure the Southcentral Conference’s final state tourney berth. Colony clinched its berth and the Knights third straight Southcentral title with an 8-0 win over Kodiak in Kodiak last week.

Wasilla senior Eric Marshall gave Wasilla the early 1-0 lead with a solo home run in the second inning, but the Bears scored seven unanswered runs during the final three innings to earn the victory.

Wasilla closes its 2010 season tonight against Palmer at 7 p.m. at the Wasilla Senior Field.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.