With one game still to play, Juneau Post 25 is a perfect 5-0 on its road trip to Anchorage and the Mat-Su Valley.
Akin to Tuesday’s games — 11-0 and 4-3 wins over Wasilla Post 35 — Juneau’s margin of victory on Wednesday in wins against South Post 4 were significantly reduced from the first game to the second. Juneau won 13-4 in five innings in the early game before scraping together a 4-3 win at the Kosinski Field Complex in Anchorage.
“When we 10-run somebody we get overconfident and we get complacent,” Juneau manager Joe Tompkins said by cellphone.
Post 25 improved to 12-1 on the season while South fell to 11-5.
In the second game of Wednesday’s doubleheader, Philip Wall pitched all seven innings and held South to five hits. Jimmy McGovern got the start for South, pitched 5 1/3 innings and allowed three runs on five hits.
After scoring two runs in the first inning, Juneau was held scoreless over the next three. South briefly tied the game up at 2-2 in the top of the fifth, but Zeb Storie scored later in the inning on a passed ball to break the tie.
Trailing 3-2, South manager Mike Webster said his team was determined to score in the seventh, given the team’s recent history against Juneau. The South Anchorage High School team — which largely makes up the legion team— trailed by the same score to Juneau in the same inning in the high school state championship game earlier this month. Juneau shutout South in the seventh and won that game, 3-2.
“They were adamant that they were going to do something about it, and they did, but not quite enough to hold them off to finish up the game,” Webster said by phone Thursday.
South’s Rodney Lincoln tied the game at 3-3, giving his team new life. But unlike the state championship game, in which South was the home team and batted last, they batted first this time, giving Juneau a chance to break the tie in the bottom of the seventh. And that’s just what they did. With two runners on base, Michael Cesar hit a walk-off single to put Juneau on top one last time.
Juneau plays Bartlett Post 29 at 3 p.m. today.
• Contact sports reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nainsworth@juneauempire.com. Follow Empire Sports on Twitter at @akempiresports.
