After scoring the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh inning, Juneau-Douglas High School senior Michael Cesar made the save of the season, in more ways than one.
Coming in to pitch the seventh, Cesar secured a 13-12 win for JDHS over Thunder Mountain High School. But it wasn’t easy. With the bases loaded and TMHS senior Chandler Lewis at the plate, Cesar made a diving tag on senior Jacob Tapia to end the game.
Aided by four Falcons’ errors, JDHS took a commanding 8-0 lead after the first two innings. They added two more runs in the third and fifth innings.
The momentum took a hard turn in the Falcons’ favor in the sixth inning. Sophomore Bryson Echiverri, senior Sammy McKnight, Lewis and sophomore Logan Lesmann hit four consecutive RBI singles to tie the game 12-all heading into the seventh.
Cesar went 4-for-4 with four RBIs and senior Luke Mallinger went 1-for-2 with two RBIs and two walks.
Bobby Cox went 2-for-3 at the plate and walked twice. Echiverri went 3-for-5 with one RBI.
TMHS has now lost five straight and drops to 0-5 in conference play. JDHS, the winners of five straight and owners of a 5-0 conference record, heads to Ketchikan for three games this weekend.
TMHS will host Sitka this weekend for three games at Adair-Kennedy Memorial Park before squaring off against JDHS for the final time in the regular season on Tuesday, May 15.
