With a bloodied left hand for part of the game, Kasey Watts was still able to shutdown Petersburg Friday night on the mound. Watts gave up just one run as the Juneau-Douglas High School varsity baseball team overwhelmed the Vikings 12 of their own — winning 12-1 in Petersburg.
The Crimson Bears traveled with 15 players to “Little Norway” for varsity and junior varsity games from Friday through Sunday.
Watts homered twice and Luke Mallinger once to help spur JDHS’ offense.
The junior pitcher was in a rundown in the third inning when a Petersburg player inadvertently stepped on Watts’ hand, cutting it open and creating a lot of bleeding.
“Blood was just leaking down my fingers but it didn’t hurt, so I just knew I needed to stop it from bleeding and I could continue to pitch,” Watts said.
The bleeding didn’t stop immediately though, and Watts spent one inning on the mound with blood still flowing from his hand.
“You can’t put anything around your left hand because it’s my throwing hand so when I was pitching I was just rubbing it on my mitt, rubbing it off my glove,” Watts said.
Watts’ hand finally stopped bleeding the inning after and he continued to pitch.
“He battled his way for five innings,” JDHS coach Chad Bentz said.
Quin Gist came on in relief but didn’t need to stick around for the seventh inning as Juneau-Douglas scored several runs in the sixth that applied the 10-run mercy rule.
“All the guys are getting their timing down … having a better approach at the plate,” Bentz said.
• Contact sports reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nolin.ainsworth@juneauempire.com.
Juneau-Douglas High School’s Kasey Watts follows through on a pitch against Petersburg at the Petersburg Baseball Field, Friday, April 28. JDHS won the game 12-1. (Ola Richards | Petersburg Pilot)
