Prep baseball: Colony splits with Peninsula foes

May 20, 2007

By MATT TUNSETH/ Frontiersman

PALMER - After five innings of enjoying the early summer sunshine - while doing little else - the Colony Knights finally awoke during a seven-run sixth inning to put away the winless Soldotna Stars Saturday at Herman Brothers Field in Palmer.

With temperatures soaring past 70 degrees for the first time all season, the Knights appeared sluggish through the first few innings against the Stars, a first-year program made up mostly of underclassmen.

&#8220We were pretty lethargic,” head coach Jamie Mayo said following the game.

Once Colony finally came around, however, there was no stopping them.

The first six batters to come to the plate scored during the sixth, an inning that saw the Knights send 11 players to the plate.

Colony also banged out six hits, including a two-run single by center fielder Robert Fitch and a two-run double by left fielder Wes Smith.

Fitch and Smith both finished the game 2-for-4 with 2 RBI, while shortstop Josh Boring went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored.

The Knights finished the game with 10 hits, eight coming off SoHi starter Josh Harvey, who had pitched well until the Knights exploded in the sixth.

Thanks to Colony starter Matt Packa, the Knights' early offensive woes didn't hurt. Packa kept the Stars in check throughout the game, allowing two runs on four hits through six innings. Rhowe Stefanski struck out the side in the seventh to preserve the victory.

Mayo said he wasn't sure why his team struggled out of the gates against the Stars.

&#8220I wish I had an answer for that one,” he said.

COLONY 10, SOLDOTNA 2

SOLDOTNA

name ab r h bi

Elson c 4 1 1 0

Griffin ss 2 1 1 0

Eskve 1b 2 0 0 0

Hatt 3b,p 3 0 0 0

Kohler 2b 3 0 2 1

Steger dh 3 0 0 0

Westerman lf 2 0 0 0

Stilchen rf 3 0 0 0

Ragsdale cf 3 0 0 0

Harvey p 0 0 0 0

Clark 3b 1 0 0 0

Totals 26 2 4 1

COLONY

Name ab r h bi

Breck 1b 1 3 1 1

Fitch cf 4 1 2 2

Smith lf 4 1 2 2

Ziter c 3 0 1 1

Comerate 3b 3 0 0 1

Cuculla 1b 3 0 0 0

Packa p 2 2 0 0

Durbin rf 2 0 0 0

Sinnett ss 2 1 1 0

Boring 3 1 2 1

Wagner dh 1 0 1 1

Ward 3b 1 1 0 0

Peterson ph 1 0 0 0

Totals 30 10 10 9

SOHI 100 001 0 - 2

COLONY 011 017 x - 10

E - Colony 0, Soldotna 1. LOB - Colony 5, Soldotna 4. SB - Breck, Smith, Ziter, Fitch, Stilchen.

SOLDOTNA IP H R ER BB SO

Harvey L 5 8 9 7 3 2

Hatt 1 2 1 1 0 1

COLONY

Packa W 6 4 2 2 1 4

Stefanski 1 0 0 0 1 3

HBP - Breck by Harvey.

Homer 5, Colony 0

PALMER - Homer pitcher Adam Treweiler gave up three hits over seven innings to handcuff the Colony Knights Friday evening at Herman Brothers Field in Palmer.

&#8220This game really boiled down to breaks,” Colony head coach Jamie Mayo said following the contest.

Colony managed to put the ball in play against Treweiler, but could never seem to get timely hitting when runners were on base.

&#8220They probably had a couple hits that, an inch, inch-and-a-half would be outs. We probably had a couple outs that an inch, inch-and -a-half would have been hits,” Mayo said. &#8220Sometimes there's nothing you can do about that.”

The loss negated a fine pitching performance by Colony starter Chris Breck, who allowed only four hits in almost five innings of work. Colony reliever Wes Smith also had a solid outing, pitching two and one-third innings without giving up a hit.

Colony got at least one runner on base in six of seven innings, but stranded eight base runners in the game.

The Mariners took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third on an RBI single by Homer third baseman Michael Fielding.

The score remained that way until the fifth, when the Mariners finally broke things open with three runs in the top half of the inning, highlighted by a 2-RBI single from Homer catcher Tad Martin.

Colony didn't help itself, committing five errors in the game. The Mariners scored five runs on just four base hits.

&#8220It was just one of those deals where they got the breaks and we didn't,” Mayo said.

HOMER 5, COLONY 0

HOMER

name ab r h bi

Watry ss 3 1 0 0

Gilbert 2b 3 1 0 1

Treweiler p 1 1 1 0

Fielding 3b 4 1 2 1

Martin c 4 0 1 2

Frink 1b 2 0 0 0

Wolford cf 3 0 0 0

McCarthy dh 2 1 0 0

DeVaney lf 2 0 0 0

Totals 24 5 4 4

COLONY

Name ab r h bi

Smith cf,p 4 0 0 0

Breck p,cf 2 0 1 0

Fitch c 3 0 0 0

Comerate 3b 3 0 0 0

Cuculla 1b 3 0 0 0

Huppert 2b 2 0 1 0

Sinnett rf 2 0 0 0

Boring ss 3 0 1 0

Totals 24 0 3 0

HOMER 001 031 0 - 5

COLONY 000 000 0 - 0

E - Colony 5, Homer 1. LOB - Colony 8, Homer 7. SB - Huppert, Boring, Watry, DeVaney. Sac - McCarthy.

HOMER IP H R ER BB SO

Treweiler W 7 3 0 0 4 8

COLONY

Breck L 4.2 4 4 2 5 3

Smith 2.1 0 1 0 2 0

HBP - Breck by Treweiler. WP - Treweiler (3), Smith (2).