{"id":22714,"date":"2018-05-24T19:52:00","date_gmt":"2018-05-25T02:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spijue.wpengine.com\/news\/mccormicks-slam-mccurleys-arm-powers-juneau-douglas-over-thunder-mountain\/"},"modified":"2018-05-24T19:52:00","modified_gmt":"2018-05-25T02:52:00","slug":"mccormicks-slam-mccurleys-arm-powers-juneau-douglas-over-thunder-mountain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/sports\/mccormicks-slam-mccurleys-arm-powers-juneau-douglas-over-thunder-mountain\/","title":{"rendered":"McCormick\u2019s slam, McCurley\u2019s arm powers Juneau-Douglas over Thunder Mountain"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brock<\/span> McCormick’s<\/span> first-inning<\/span> grand<\/span> slam<\/span> fueled<\/span> a<\/span> six-run<\/span> first<\/span> inning,<\/span> and<\/span> Juneau-Douglas<\/span> Crimson Bears defeated<\/span> the<\/span> Thunder<\/span> Mountain<\/span> Falcons,<\/span> 12-0,<\/span> in<\/span> the<\/span> first<\/span> round<\/span> of<\/span> the<\/span> Region<\/span> V<\/span> Southeast<\/span> Baseball<\/span> Tournament<\/span> Thursday at<\/span> Mulcahy<\/span> Stadium<\/span> in<\/span> Sitka.<\/span><\/p>\n

The<\/span> two-out<\/span> grand<\/span> slam<\/span> highlighted<\/span> an<\/span> inning<\/span> that<\/span> started<\/span> off<\/span> with<\/span> Michael<\/span> Cesar<\/span> driving<\/span> in<\/span> Donavin<\/span> McCurley.<\/span> Cesar<\/span> scored<\/span> on<\/span> an<\/span> RBI-single<\/span> by<\/span> Riley<\/span> Griffin<\/span> setting<\/span> the<\/span> table<\/span> for<\/span> Mc<\/span>Cormick.<\/span> An<\/span> error<\/span> behind<\/span> third<\/span> base<\/span> kept<\/span> TMHS<\/span> from<\/span> getting<\/span> an<\/span> easy<\/span> second<\/span> out<\/span> and<\/span> opened<\/span> up<\/span> the<\/span> scoring<\/span> for<\/span> JDHS.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>Crimson Bears coach Chad Bentz<\/span> said<\/span> getting<\/span> the<\/span> offense<\/span> going<\/span> early<\/span> helped<\/span> the<\/span> batters<\/span> gain<\/span> confidence<\/span> and<\/span> eased<\/span> McCurley’s<\/span> duties<\/span> on<\/span> the<\/span> mound.<\/span><\/p>\n

“That was a huge inning for us,” Bentz said. “We took advantage of a few TM mistakes made. We have been focusing on having a plan at the plate and we did a really good job of that.”<\/span><\/p>\n

With<\/span> the<\/span> cushion<\/span> of<\/span> a<\/span> big<\/span> lead,<\/span> McCurley<\/span> cruised<\/span> through<\/span> the<\/span> Falcons’<\/span> lineup<\/span> in<\/span> his<\/span> 4<\/span> 2\/3<\/span> innings<\/span> of<\/span> no-hit<\/span> ball.<\/span> He<\/span> allowed<\/span> two<\/span> walks<\/span> and<\/span> struck<\/span> out<\/span> a<\/span> pair.<\/span> Olin<\/span> Rawson<\/span> recorded<\/span> the<\/span> final<\/span> out<\/span> in<\/span> the<\/span> five-inning<\/span> combined<\/span> no-hitter.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I always know what I am going to get from Donavin,”<\/span> Bentz said. “He did a great job of throwing strikes like he normally does and for a pitcher to have a lead like that is huge. He is a competitor and a great player.”<\/p>\n

McCurley<\/span> also<\/span> got<\/span> help<\/span> from<\/span> his<\/span> defense,<\/span> particularly<\/span> in<\/span> the<\/span> fourth<\/span> inning,<\/span> when<\/span> some<\/span> loose<\/span> baserunning<\/span> turned<\/span> into<\/span> a<\/span> wild<\/span> triple<\/span> play.<\/span> Sammy<\/span> McKnight<\/span> grounded<\/span> back<\/span> to<\/span> the<\/span> mound and three rundowns later, all three Thunder Mountain baserunners were cleared off the bases, stopping any chance of a rally.<\/span><\/p>\n

“That triple-play was probably the biggest play in the game,” Bentz said. “TM was starting to get energy back and we took advantage of some baserunning errors. We had three rundowns and we executed every time.”<\/p>\n

JDHS<\/span> added<\/span> to<\/span> its<\/span> lead<\/span> in<\/span> the<\/span> second<\/span> as<\/span> Jacob<\/span> Dale<\/span> singled,<\/span> advanced<\/span> to<\/span> second<\/span> on<\/span> a<\/span> passed<\/span> ball<\/span> and<\/span> scored<\/span> on<\/span> a<\/span> Cesar<\/span> ground<\/span> ball<\/span> to<\/span> right<\/span> field.<\/span> Cesar<\/span> scored<\/span> on<\/span> a<\/span> fielder’s<\/span> choice<\/span> after<\/span> making<\/span> his<\/span> way<\/span> to<\/span> third<\/span> on<\/span> a<\/span> passed<\/span> ball.<\/span> Griffin<\/span> tacked<\/span> on<\/span> a<\/span> bases-clearing<\/span> double<\/span> in<\/span> the<\/span> fourth that was part of a four-run frame.<\/span><\/p>\n

McCormick<\/span> went<\/span> 2-for-2<\/span> with<\/span> four<\/span> RBI.<\/span> Griffin<\/span> also<\/span> tallied<\/span> four<\/span> RBI<\/span> and<\/span> finished<\/span> 2-for-3<\/span> at<\/span> the<\/span> plate.<\/span> Cesar,<\/span> Watts<\/span> and<\/span> Erik<\/span> Kelly<\/span> all<\/span> scored<\/span> twice.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thunder<\/span> Mountain<\/span> starting<\/span> pitcher<\/span> <\/span>McKnight<\/span> allowed<\/span> 12<\/span> runs<\/span> (six<\/span> earned)<\/span> on<\/span> nine<\/span> hits and<\/span> three<\/span> walks<\/span> while<\/span> notching<\/span> a<\/span> strikeout<\/span> in<\/span> 3<\/span> 1\/3<\/span> innings<\/span> of<\/span> work.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thunder Mountain coach Bill McCauley said his team cannot hang their heads and must be ready for a win-or-go-home situation against Petersburg at 9 a.m. Friday.<\/p>\n

“Our backs are against the wall and we can’t lose,” McCauley said. “We have to pull ourselves back up and get ready to play well.”<\/p>\n

Juneau-<\/span>Douglas, meanwhile,<\/span> will<\/span> face<\/span> the<\/span> winner<\/span> of<\/span> the<\/span> Sitka<\/span> vs.<\/span> Ketchikan<\/span> game<\/span> at<\/span> noon<\/span> Friday.<\/span><\/p>\n

“We are going to try to get into tomorrow’s game right where we left off,” Bentz said. “We are going to make the pitcher work. We are very excited to play whoever we play. If we play like I think we can play, I know we can play anyone in the state.”<\/p>\n

\n

• Contact reporter Gregory Philson at gphilson@juneauempire.com<\/a> or call at 523-2265. Follow him on Twitter at @GTPhilson.<\/b><\/p>\n

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Brock McCormick’s first-inning grand slam fueled a six-run first inning, and Juneau-Douglas Crimson Bears defeated the Thunder Mountain Falcons, 12-0, in the first round of the Region V Southeast Baseball Tournament Thursday at Mulcahy Stadium in Sitka. The two-out grand slam highlighted an inning that started off with Michael Cesar driving in Donavin McCurley. Cesar […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":431,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":6,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-22714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/431"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22714"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22714\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22714"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=22714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}