Knights win first conference match-up

WASILLA — The Colony Knights defeated the Wasilla Warriors 5-3 Monday night at Wasilla Senior Field.

It was the first conference match-up for either team.

Colony was the home team for the Valley rivals’ first contest of the year. Wasilla struck early, scoring all three of their runs in the first inning. Starter Dalton McHugill found his groove on the mound after a rocky first inning to hurl a complete-game victory, the Knights’ first of the season.

Wasilla’s starter Nolan Monaghan helped his own cause from the batters box in the bottom of the first, poking the ball left with a leadoff double. Following a hard-hit ball from Sam Loyer — caught for an out in centerfield — Buddy Dale walked and Blake Marks slapped a single to shallow right.

The Knights made two errors on the play. They missed Dale at the plate and threw wide to miss Marks sneaking toward third base. The ball dribbled into left field and Marks made his way home to score for the Warriors, to the delight of the erupting crowd and dugout. The Warrior hitters eked 31 pitches off of McHugill in the first inning, giving up three hits and walking a pair.

Monaghan showed resilience on the mound in his half of the first. Monaghan struggled to control the strike zone in the bottom half of the first inning, allowing a single and walking two to load the bases full of Knights.

After Monaghan missed the strike zone on 10 out of 12 pitches, Wasilla head coach Jason Terryberry went to the mound to talk to his ace left-hander. Whatever he said helped. The next two Colony batters went down swinging.

Colony shortstop Matt Palmer was an offensive producer. Palmer scored two runs, reaching base three times. Colony’s bats sounded in the third inning. With the bases loaded, Josh Finch hit a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Palmer. McHugill next smashed a 2-RBI single into right field to give his team the lead. With McHugill firing hard fastballs and sharp, breaking pitches, it was smooth sailing from that point for fourth-year head coach Jordan Chadwell and the Knights. McHugill tallied 10 strikeouts over 7 innings, earning the complete game victory.

Palmer scored again in the fourth on a Cooper McLaughlin double to deep center field.

Chadwell liked what he saw from his veteran leadership.

“We’ve got 9 seniors,” he said. “Palmer, McHugill and Logan Sanders have been playing on the varsity team since they were freshmen. We’ve got a lot of experience, and they take their leadership seriously. I do very little as far as the leadership role with those guys around.”

Though Wasilla was the visiting team on their own field, they kept fans on the edge of their seats with two scoring opportunities late in the game. Warrior sophomore Hank Boyer reached first base on a dropped third strike behind Jeffrey Forster, who had walked. McHugill quelled the threat, striking out the next batter looking. Dale motored down the baseline to earn an infield single in the seventh, and Marks followed suit. With the winning run at the plate and McHugill long past 100 pitches into the night, he put his defense to work, keeping the ball on the infield to record the final outs of the game and secure victory for the Knights.

Boyer pitched well in relief. Over three and one-third innings, he walked two, struck out two, and allowed only one run.

“He’s a ball player,” Terryberry said, of his sophomore right-hander. “He’ll run through a wall for you. He just gets dirty. He loves being on the diamond, and he’d go on the mound every day if I let him.”

The Knights were coming off a loss to the South Anchorage Wolverines. The Warriors split against Anchorage teams, defeating East High School and losing to Eagle River.

Tonight, Colony visits the Homer Mariners, who will face Wasilla Saturday.