The Juneau-Douglas: Yadaat.at Kalé baseball team couldn’t solve a pair of Mat-Su Valley pitchers this weekend at the state tournament.
The Crimson Bears fell to Wasilla and Colony — Southcentral Conference rivals less than 10 miles apart from one another — over a three-day stretch at the ASAA/First National Bank state tournament at Mulcahy Stadium in Anchorage. JDHS lost to Colony 8-1 Saturday morning in the fourth-place game after being thumped by Wasilla 10-3 on Thursday. The Crimson Bears took down North Pole 11-1 on Friday afternoon.
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JDHS produced just three total runs against Wasilla’s Nolan Murphy and Colony’s Zach Satterly. Murphy allowed four hits over six innings on Thursday, and Satterly gave up six hits in a complete game effort on Saturday.
Sophomore Garrett Bryant scored the Crimson Bears’ lone run against Colony. Bryant scored on sophomore Olin Rawson’s single with two outs in the second inning following his one-out single.
Colony took charge in the bottom of the second, outscoring JDHS 8-0 over the next 4 1/2 innings.
Carson McLaughlin hit a leadoff triple as the Knights grabbed the lead for good in the second. When McLaughlin, Alex Manning and Tyler Siracusa loaded the bases with no outs, Koen Leaders walked and Kaden Ketchum grounded out to the shortstop to score two.
Sophomore catcher Brock McCormick helped the Crimson Bears get out of the inning by throwing out Leaders at second.
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Wasilla continued to pad its lead the third, fifth and sixth innings as JDHS’ Garrett Bryant, Gaby Soto and Kona Ogoy all saw time on the mound. The Knights stranded base runners in four straight innings to end the game.
Juneau-Douglas was likely the youngest team in the tournament, with four freshmen and six sophomores on the roster.
Ketchikan and Wasilla were the only two undefeated teams left in the tournament on Saturday morning. The Kings and Warriors went head-to-head at 3 p.m. for the state championship. It was the first high school state championship in school history for either team.
Wasilla cruised into the finals with lopsided wins over JDHS and Chugiak, while Ketchikan prevailed against Colony and West Anchorage to punch their ticket to the title game.
ASAA/First National Bank baseball state tournament
Mulcahy Stadium, Anchorage
March 30-June 1
Thursday scores
Ketchikan 10, Colony 3
West Anchorage 10, West Valley 0
Wasilla 10, Juneau-Douglas 3
Chugiak 13, North Pole 3
Friday scores
Colony 8, West Valley 4
Juneau-Douglas 11, North Pole 1
Ketchikan 7, West Anchorage 6 (semifinal)
Wasilla 13, Chugiak 1 (semifinal)
Saturday scores
Colony 8, Juneau-Douglas 1 (fourth place)
West Anchorage 10, Chugiak 0 (third place)
Alaska baseball state champions (since 2000)
2018: Juneau-Douglas; 2017: Sitka; 2016: South Anchorage; 2015: Chugiak; 2014: Sitka; 2013: South Anchorage; 2012: Juneau-Douglas; 2011: South Anchorage; 2010: Juneau-Douglas; 2009: Dimond; 2008: Juneau-Douglas; 2007: Sitka; 2006: Sitka; 2005: Sitka; 2004: Kodiak; 2003: Juneau-Douglas; 2002: Juneau-Douglas; 2001: Service; 2000: East Anchorage.
• Contact sports reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nainsworth@juneauempire.com. Follow Empire Sports on Twitter at @akempiresports.