Philip Wall got Juneau Post 25 back on track at the American Legion State Tournament Friday in Anchorage. The Thunder Mountain High School senior threw seven scoreless innings, leading Juneau to a 4-2 win over Dimond Post 21 at Mulcahy Stadium.
“Dimond always comes ready to play,” Post 25 manager Joe Tompkins said via text. “We knew it was going to be a battle. Our defense is tough and Phil pitched smart, got ahead early and changed speeds well.”
Dimond is now eliminated from the tournament as only three teams remain: Juneau, Service and South.
Zeb Storie had a strong day on offense and defense. He went 1-for-2, scored two runs and was sharp at shortstop.
Bobby Cox, Alex Muir and Kasey Watts recorded RBIs for Juneau.
After trailing by mulitiple runs for most of the game, Dimond scored two runs in the eighth inning.
Then in the ninth, the Lynx looked poised for a two-out rally. Jacob Andresen, Kaden Roettger and Conor Bates-Janigo made three straight hits to load the bases. However, Bryce Swofford collected an easy grounder to make a force out at first.
Juneau will face either Service or South at 3 p.m. Saturday. In either case, Juneau will have to play a second game against Service in order to win the championship. At the start of the day on Friday, Service was the only remaining unbeaten in the tournament. A team must lose twice to be eliminated.
• Contact sports reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nolin.ainsworth@juneauempire.com.
