Warriors steal victory over Knights

WASILLA — The Wasilla High School baseball team got the best of Colony Friday night, beating the Knights 3-2 at Wasilla Senior Field in a back-and-forth contest.

Junior lefthander Nolan Monaghan earned the complete game victory for the Warriors. Senior Buddy Dale drove in two of the three Warrior runs.

Monaghan delivered a strong performance from the mound, striking out seven Knights. The Wasilla southpaw walked only two in the contest, and scattered eight hits over his complete-game victory.

Though offense was scarce for both teams, Wasilla found a way to beat its Valley rival and avenge a loss to the Knights earlier this season.

Colony starter Logan Sanders delivered a masterful pitching performance of his own. The senior walked the first batter of the game, then promptly picked Monaghan off first. Sanders needed no help in recording the next several outs, striking out five Warriors in two innings.

After cruising through the Warrior lineup for the first two innings, Sanders hit a speed bump in the third. He walked Zack Garnett on four pitches. The speedy senior then stole second, and advanced to third on a passed ball, before scoring on a single to left by Dale.

“It’s definitely a weapon for us,” said Wasilla head coach Jason Terryberry, of Garnett’s speed.

Colony bounced back in the fifth inning. Brendan Jakiemiec got the rally started by getting on base after being hit by the first pitch of the inning. Two outs later, he represented the tying run, 90 feet away on third base.

Matt Palmer then hit the ball sharply at third base and hustled to beat the throw at first. Palmer then scored all the way from first on a Cooper McLaughlin single to left-center, giving the visitors a 2-1 edge.

As quick as Palmer was, Garnett was quicker Friday night. In the Warriors half of the fifth, Garnett sparked a rally by stealing his second base of the evening, after being hit by a pitch.

Teammate Sam Loyer drove him in with a frozen-rope single up the middle. Dale then hit a towering pop fly deep to right field, scoring Loyer.

Monaghan was still throwing hard entering the sixth inning, challenging Colony batters with fastballs up in the strike zone. But Palmer singled again off Monaghan to start the Knights’ comeback effort in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Benjamin Werner then fouled off four pitches before he got the one he liked, recording an infield single to third base and keeping the Knights’ hope alive. Dalton McHugill reached on an error to load the bases and increase the threat, with the go-ahead runner on second base.

But Monaghan got Steven Srebernak to ground out to second, securing the victory for the Warriors, who have now defeated each Valley team this week. The Warriors beat both Houston and Palmer by virtue of the 10-run “mercy” rule.

While Monaghan kept the Knights’ hitters on the ropes for much of the game, the Warrior defense stood strong behind their ace on the mound to help finish off the Knights.

“He had some things go his way,” Terryberry said, of Monaghan. “He had some one-pitch outs and he kept grinding it. You could see it in his eyes that he wanted to be there, and it was him to finish it for us.”

Sanders matched Monaghan’s performance each inning. Sanders’ seven strikeouts over seven innings of work and three earned runs on only three hits earned him the loss on the mound. Sanders struggled with control at times, walking five Warrior batters.

Wasilla has won its last seven games, to improve to 8-2 overall and 4-1 in conference. The Warriors will play the Palmer Moose for the second time on Monday.