.png)
Gastineau Channel Little League are state baseball champions
- Klas Stolpe
- Jul 19
- 8 min read
Juneau Junior All-Stars fall behind early, rally late to defeat Ketchikan 14-11
By Klas Stolpe
Juneau Independent
For the first time in the best-of-five 2026 Alaska Juniors Baseball State Championships, the game was not decided by an inning-shortened run rule. Instead it took something deep inside the Gastineau Channel Little League to overcome an early deficit to Ketchikan and rally to win 14-11, taking the series in four games.
“Our guys were still looking and hunting out opportunities today despite being behind,” Juneau manager Zach Kohan said. “We learned a lesson in the first game of the series, and it took us a whole day to make that adjustment.”
Juneau lost that first series game Thursday 15-5 by run rule in six innings, won by 13-3 run rule in five innings Friday and won by 10-0 run rule in six innings Saturday.
Said Kohan, “What I told them after today’s game was that the impressive thing about today, outside of the plays and outside of the hustle and grit that they showed, is just the ability to make that transition in the same game. And that is hard to do for any team.”
Ketchikan scored the game’s first run in the bottom of the first inning as Maximus Birch was hit by a pitch from Juneau’s Elias Lockhart and scored on a single by Kyle James for a 1-0 lead.
Juneau scored two runs in the top of the second inning with Bridger Lockhart earning a one-out walk and Mast Mallott hitting a double to put runners on second and third. A sacrifice bunt by Wyatt Hickok scored B. Lockhart and a single by Logan Fanning scored Mallott for the 2-1 lead.
Ketchikan rallied in the bottom of the second with Takeshi Schramm earning a walk, Jack Sayer a single, Drake Abigania a walk and Forrest Eide a walk, scoring Schramm. Newt Berntson singled, scoring Sayer, Parker Jones bunted to score Abigania, and an error scored Eide for a 5-2 Ketchikan lead.
Juneau scored a run in the top of the third inning with E. Lockhart earning a walk and a steal and scoring on a single by Gavin Kohan to trail 5-3.
Ketchikan was stymied in the bottom of the third and Juneau in the top of the fourth. Ketchikan’s Schramm and Sayer earned walks to start the bottom of the fourth inning, and Juneau’s E. Lockhart was relieved on the mound by Eli Hayes.
Ketchikan’s Abigania earned a walk and Eide walked, scoring Schramm for a 6-3 lead. Berntson singled, scoring Sayer for 7-3 and a passed ball scored Abigania for 8-3. A fielder’s choice ground ball by Parker Jones scored Eide for 9-3.
“We just kept fighting through adversity and staying positive through the whole thing,” E. Lockhart said. “We got down early and we kept our spirits high and trusted our pitchers to pitch strikes and get ground balls and, yeah, everything went well from there when we did that.”
Relief pitcher Colin Daniels came on late in the fourth inning, steadying the mound and working through a six-run deficit to close out the game.
“It was my team,” Daniels said. “The support from my coaches and all the players on the team.”
Daniels threw 3.2 innings to close the game. He came on with a runner on third base after a series of unlucky plays had pushed Ketchikan out to a 9-3 lead. The first batter faced hit a fly ball out that scored a run for 10-3 and the next batter grounded out to second baseman Rawley Cox to end the inning.
“My fastball is my best pitch,” Daniels said. “Bridger (catcher Bridger Lockhart) calls them. I have played with him for two years, so I am comfortable with him.”
Juneau rallied for three runs in the top of the fifth inning. Logan Fanning led off with a walk and stole second. He was tagged out on a ground ball hit by Cox, but the offensive pressure was wearing on Ketchikan. A fly ball out by Reagon Talatoa almost dropped as well.
With two outs, Max Hayes doubled and E. Lockhart hit a hard ground ball that was bobbled. Cox and M. Hayes would score, and the ball was overthrown at first, sending the speedy E. Lockhart past second and around third on another miscue and to home to trail 10-6. G. Kohan singled and stole a base, and Marquis Lim singled and stole a base. A strikeout would end the inning, but the added pressure of two runners left on base affected Ketchikan.
Daniels’ fastball put Ketchikan down in order in the bottom of the fifth inning with an opening strikeout, a ground ball to second baseman Cox and a ground ball to shortstop G. Kohan.
“I absolutely think our fielding is really important,” Juneau’s M. Hayes said after the game. “The shortstop is obviously kind of the captain of the infield. So he kind of controls the mood and everything, and Gavin (Kohan) is always ready to field a ground ball and throw it across the diamond. And as you saw out there it takes way more than one, you know, Rawley (Cox) made that amazing catch, Mast (Mallott) is doing an amazing job at first base, the pitchers, everyone works together.”
Hayes is also a standout hockey player.
“It helps with the nerves,” M. Hayes said. “I have been in a lot of hockey pressure games.”
Juneau kept that momentum into the sixth inning as Daniels earned a walk and stole second during the next batter’s strikeout and stole third with Mallott at bat. Mallott earned a walk and Hickok singled to score Daniels to trail 10-7.
Fanning singled, scoring Mallott and Hickok to trail 10-9, and stole a base while Cox was earning a walk. After a strikeout for two outs, M. Hayes singled to load the bases. With E. Lockhart at bat, a passed ball allowed Fanning to score and tie the game 10-10.
E. Lockhart singled with an error, allowing Cox and M. Hayes to score for a 12-10 lead. G. Kohan singled to score E. Lockhart for 13-10 and stole a base. Lim earned a walk and, with E. Hayes at bat, Lim attempted a steal and was obstructed by the second baseman, meaning the runners advanced and G. Kohan scored for the 14-10 lead.
Daniels did the same mound magic in the bottom of the sixth inning as his pitches were turned into a fielding display by Juneau shortstop G. Kohan, who fielded a ground ball and threw to Mallott at first for an out, caught a fly ball for an out and ended the inning fielding a ground ball and throwing to Mallott for the third out.
“You always want a team that has a leader,” Juneau manager Z. Kohan said. “And that helps kind of orient everybody and to know that if a ball goes to the shortstop that we got our guy there is huge for the pitching staff and huge for everybody on the infield and he showed that today.”
Daniels led off the top of the seventh inning with a single and stole second with B. Lockhart at bat. B. Lockhart hit a hard line drive that was caught by Ketchikan and forced a double play on Daniels. Mallott then grounded back to the pitcher for the third out and Juneau now had to make one more defensive stand.
A leadoff walk to Ketchikan’s Newt Berntson in the bottom of the seventh inning was followed by Daniels’ fastball bringing a strikeout. Ketchikan’s Ezra Jurzack hit a single and a passed ball put the runners on second and third. Juneau’s Cox backpedaled to make a fly ball catch for two outs. A passed ball allowed Berntson to score from third base and Ketchikan to trail 14-11, but Daniels knuckled down on the mound and ended the championship game with a strikeout.
“CD (Colin Daniels) coming in and steadying the ship was key,” Z. Kohan said. “And everyone seeing that we were down but not out. Then that ending where we had four runs in the fifth inning on a base hit, two base hits maybe, was all putting pressure on their defense and all the things we have been preaching. So it was fun to see that all come through and see these guys see how impactful that is in a baseball game.”
Juneau now travels to the regional championships in Bend, Oregon, July 22-30.
“It is going to be good competition down there between them and us,” Daniels said. “It won’t be easy.”
Added E. Lockhart, “We are always encouraging people and going with a positive mindset and staying high.”
Manager Z. Kohan was 14 years old and on the 1998 GCLL team that made a run through the West Regionals and were within a game of getting a seed in the World Series.
“You go down south and it is everybody,” Z. Kohan said. “You face guys that are playing all year round, but there is something special about Alaska teams, and I am sure we will find a way to compete and use what we have, which is a lot of tools to compete for a baseball game.”
• Contact Klas Stolpe at sports@juneauindependent.com
