Summer is well underway but American Legion Baseball is just getting started. Juneau\u2019s Post 25 team kicked off their season by splitting a doubleheader with South Anchorage\u2019s Post 4 in a Saturday afternoon doubleheader at Adair Kennedy Memorial Park.<\/p>\n
Juneau dispatched South 11-3 and then lost 6-5.<\/p>\n
Pitcher Bryce Swofford made his mark in the opener, commanding the plate in a complete game from the mound. The 6-foot-7 pitcher looked accurate and in control, throwing 69 strikes on 97 pitches in leading his team to the win. Swofford gave up seven hits and earned five strikeouts.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a lot of confidence knowing I had a good defense behind me, knowing I could pitch to anybody,\u201d Swofford said. \u201cWe\u2019re all a bit rusty but I think we\u2019ll have a good season.\u201d<\/p>\n
Post 25\u2019s offense gave Swofford plenty of room, but he wouldn\u2019t need it in leading Juneau to an 11-3 win. Juneau opened scoring in the first inning when Finn Collins doubled to left field, sending Donovan McCurley home for the score. A Michael Cesar single to center field gave Juneau the 2-0 advantage early.<\/p>\n
South tied the game 2-2 in the second inning, but Post 25 blew the game open in the third, hitting five runs off RBIs from Alex Muir, Quin Gist, Collins and Cesar; Antonio DeAsis added a run off a passed ball.<\/p>\n
The score stayed knotted at 7-2 until the fifth, when Juneau added two more runs from a Kasey Watts RBI single and a RBI groundout from Zeb Storie. Cesar hit a two-run, line drive single in the sixth to bring Juneau to 11 runs and close scoring for the home team.<\/p>\n
Seven Juneau players combined for eight hits in the game. Cesar led the way with three RBIs and going 2-3 at the plate.<\/p>\n
Manager Joe Tompkins saw a scrappy, growing team.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re never going to quit,\u201d said Tompkins. \u201cThis (South) is a team that came down and won state. I am pretty proud of our guys; everybody contributed, everybody stole bases.\u201d<\/p>\n
Juneau earned an early lead in the second game, going up 3-0 in the first inning, but quickly fell behind as South\u2019s bats warmed up. First inning RBIs from Muir, Collins and Storie gave Post 25 the early advantage before South\u2019s three-run effort in the second tied the game up. South took a 5-3 lead in the third before Juneau pitcher Phillip Wall came in and stanched the bleeding.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had to bring Phillip Wall in and he calmed things down,\u201d Tompkins said.<\/p>\n
Juneau did rally late in the game behind Wall\u2019s cool hand. With two runners on, Storie smacked a double to the shortstop that brought in Collins and Cesar to bring Juneau within one run with two frames to go.<\/p>\n
Post 25 couldn\u2019t find the crucial run in the end, their bats going flat in the last two innings, according to Tompkins.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur bats just never got hot again,\u201d Tomkins said, adding that he\u2019s seen some good things out of this American Legion team but they haven\u2019t gelled yet.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have to learn to believe in each other. You grow up playing with each other, and then they play on two separate teams during the (high school) season; now they have to go back to being that one team,\u201d Tompkins said. \u201cThis is the first series, we\u2019ve only had three practices. I am very happy with the performance.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"