Prep baseball: Colony uses heavy metal approach in win over Wasilla

WASILLA - Metallica. Guns N' Roses. Judas Priest. Iron Maiden.

The Colony High School baseball team?

Any list of heavy metal bands should now be updated to include the Knights.

When Colony swung its bats Friday, the Knights were loud, pyrotechnic and extremely entertaining.

&#8220Offense has probably been our biggest asset over the last three games of the season,” Colony head coach Jamie Mayo said. &#8220For the most part, we were hitting the ball well all season. But tonight, the familiar ping made when the aluminum bat and ball make contact was sweet music.”

Axl Rose should be proud of the kids from Colony School Drive. They jumped to an 11-0 lead after the first inning, and went on to drive in 13 more runs in a 24-9 thrashing of the Wasilla Warriors in their final game of the season.

&#8220Some days,” Mayo said, &#8220You just annihilate the baseball. This was one of those days for us.”

Leading the offense for the Knights was Ryan Pauling, one of seven seniors playing their final game in a Colony uniform.

A first baseman, Pauling was 3-of-4 at the plate. He scored four runs and drove in five - including a first-inning, two-out grand slam.

&#8220I wasn't trying to hit it out of the park,” Pauling said. &#8220I just wanted to take a good cut at the pitch. I knew as soon as I hit it that it was going out. The bat makes a certain sound when you hit the ball good. It's a wonderful sound.”

Mike Bodziony got the Knights off to a quick start in the first inning when he singled into right field to score teammate Robert Fitch. In his second at bat of the inning, Bodziony walked on four-straight pitches with the bases loaded. That set the table for Pauling's big swing.

As lopsided as the score appears, Wasilla made things interesting during the fourth inning, closing the gap to 13-9.

&#8220We got a little comfortable after having a big first inning,” Pauling said. &#8220Next thing I knew is they had the tying run at the plate in the fourth.”

&#8220The credit goes to the kids,” Wasilla coach Mark Briceland said. &#8220They're a young group, and (they) didn't know they were supposed to pack it in after falling behind in the first. They just went out and played hard on every play.”

The Warriors performance in the second through fifth inning was enough to outscore the heavy hitting Knights 9-8. But the Knights struck again. Colony ignited the bats in the seventh.

Tyler Eli sparked the rally with a two-run single. When the inning ended Colony was three outs away from its largest margin of victory, with a 15-run lead.

Nathan Maxwell, who took over pitching duties from Chris Breck in the bottom of the fourth, closed out the game by forcing Wasilla's Robert Tingstrom to fly out to center fielder Wes Smith.

Fitch hit a two-run homerun, which bounced off the roof of a pick-up located beyond the left field fence.

The Knights celebrated their season-ending victory by tossing water balloons at each other, and coach Mayo.

&#8220It was a great way to end the season,” Mayo said. &#8220We had fun during the game and a lot of fun when it was over.”

Along with Houston and Palmer, Colony and Wasilla compete in the Northern Lights Conference. None of the Valley squads earned a postseason berth this season.

Kodiak, 8-0 in conference play, earned the lone NLC bid, and will play in the four-team state tourney next week in Fairbanks.

Contact Darrell L. Breese at 352-2267 or at darrell.breese@

frontiersman.com.

Colony 24, Wasilla 9

Colony (11)11 203 6 - 24 20 3

Wasilla 222 210 0 - 9 8 5

Pitching - Wasilla: Newcomb, Thomas (1), Tingstrom (5), Wagner (7) and Brent, Ostrom (3). Colony: Breck, Maxwell (4) and Eli. W - Breck. L - Newcomb. 2B - Elkins, Eli, Bodziony. HR - Pauling, Fitch.