Prep softball: Colony ready for state

WASILLA — Colony coach Mike Stewart is confident his team is ready to play with the heavy-hitters of Alaska softball when the 2008 ASAA/First National Bank Alaska State Softball Tournament gets underway today in Anchorage.

“I feel real good,” Stewart said Thursday.

The Knights, which finished as the No. 3 seed from the Railbelt Conference, will face Cook Inlet Conference runner-up East in today’s 10 a.m. opening-round game at Cartee Fields. Though the T-Birds won all three meetings with Colony during the regular season, Stewart said his team could have won two of those games.

“Two were close,” he said.

Colony lost two of its final three regular season games, but Stewart said he saw great cause for optimism in a pair of one-run losses to Chugiak (the CIC’s top seed) and Bartlett, which also qualified for state.

“The last three or four games they played excellent softball,” he said.

Much of Colony’s success will ride on the right arm of pitcher Michelle Stratton, who will log the majority of innings at state as well as serve as the team’s No. 3 hitter. Stratton was recently named All-Railbelt Conference for her play this season, as was Colony second baseman Dani Buckley, who’ll be called on to spark Colony’s offense at the top of the order.

If the Knights can get past East, the road to the championship won’t get any easier, with the winner of Juneau/Service waiting in today’s 4 p.m. semifinal game. Juneau is the defending state champions and have compiled a perfect 10-0 Railbelt Conference record and 20-2 overall record this season.

If the Knights lose to East, they’ll fall into the loser’s bracket in the double-elimination tournament and have to play at 6 p.m. today against the Service/Juneau loser.

Stewart said he’s hoping to avoid that option. But however the weekend turns out, he said his team is excited about making a return to the state tournament after missing out a year ago.

“It’s going to be a good weekend,” he said.

All-Railbelt Conference:

Nicole Charlstrom, North Pole; Jordan Reeves, Lathrop; Kaitlyn Hull, Lathrop; Sam Ahlstrom, West Valley; Michaela Hale, West Valley; Jen Brand, West Valley; Michelle Stratton, Colony; Dani Buckley, Colony; Carrie Ann Laliberte, Juneau; Nicloe Fenumiai, Juneau; Nethia Lavering, Juneau; Darby Brown, Juneau

Contact Matt Tunseth at 352-2265 or matt.tunseth@

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