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GCLL Majors Baseball All-Stars are District 2 champions
- Klas Stolpe
- 4 hours ago
- 4 min read
Juneau defeats Ketchikan 9-1, await arrival of Anchorage District 1 champ to Ketchikan
By Klas Stolpe
Juneau Independent
The Gastineau Channel Little League Majors Baseball All-Stars now officially own Ketchikan’s Dudley Field, toppling the Ketchikan Major All-Stars 9-1 on Tuesday evening to win the District 2 Championship and will await the arrival of Anchorage’s Abbott-O-Rabbitt for the best-of-three state championship series beginning Saturday.
“The coaches and I could not be more prouder of them,” GCLL manager Ron Winkelman said. “These boys know how to work through adversity. We got down 1-0 and they kept believing in themselves and each other. Once we scored in the fifth that set up the sixth and the floodgates opened. We had 17 hits yesterday against Ketchikan and collected 11 hits today. We have a team of pitchers and they all contributed throughout the tournament.”
Ketchikan scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the first inning as Kobe Nall hit a single, and stole third base and home plate for the 1-0 lead.
Juneau got behind starting pitcher Carter Talatoa to keep their opponents scoreless into the second inning. Talatoa would pitch 1.2 innings and earn a strikeout.
Juneau reliever Max Metzger came on to the mound midway through the second inning and pitched 3.1 innings with three strikeouts. Both pitchers had solid fielding behind them.
“I just tried to throw hard strikes,” Metzger said. “It feels really good. I am happy for the team.”
Cooper Duval closed out the win in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Juneau took the lead in the top of the fifth inning.
Stats sent from manager Winkelman show that Colt Winkelman doubled and stole third base. Indie Strong earned a walk and stole second base, putting runners at second and third. Cooper Duval hit into a fielder’s choice but collected an RBI as Winkelman scored to tie the game at 1-1.
Sebastian Nelson reached on a fielder’s choice and Gavin Ludeman hit a double for an RBI, scoring Strong for a 2-1 lead.
“I was happy to be able to help the team get the lead,” Ludeman said. “I am proud that our pitchers did so good to win district.”
Juneau then took over the game in the top of the sixth inning, scoring seven runs.
Kalon Herman led off the sixth inning being hit by a pitch, stole second base and advanced to third on a passed ball. Evans Mallott earned a walk and stole second base, putting runners at second and third.
Eli Mulvey hit a hard infield shot scoring Herman for a 3-1 lead and Mallott advanced to third base. Mulvey stole second base and Talatoa hit a mishandled fielder’s choice to load the bases.
Landon Love connected on a deep shot to the outfield for a stand-up triple, earning three RBIs as Mallott, Mulvey and Talatoa crossed the plate for a 6-1 lead.
“I felt really good,” Love said. “I am really happy for my team.”
C. Winkelman earned a walk and stole second base and Strong earned a walk to load the bases again. Duval earned a walk to score Love for a 7-1 lead.
Nelson put a hit into centerfield for a single, scoring Winkelman for an 8-1 lead and Cash Stekoll earned a walk, scoring Strong for the 9-1 final.
Duval struck out Ketchikan’s Chieftain Keizer in the bottom of the sixth inning, then forced Cooper Johnstone and Kobe Nall into fielding outs to end the game.
“We talk about supporting one another and having each other’s back,” manager Winkelman said. “So no surprise that both players interviewed are happy for the team. There’s no I in team!”
The Alaska Little League Baseball State Tournament begins on Saturday, August 1 on Ketchikan’s Dudley Field with District 1 champion Abbott-O-Rabbitt and Juneau beginning their best-of-three-game series at 5 p.m.
Game two is Sunday at 5 p.m. and game three is scheduled for Monday at 6 p.m., depending on the outcome of the first two games.
The Alaska state champion moves on to the Regional tournament in San Bernardino, California, Aug. 8-14.
• Contact Klas Stolpe at sports@juneauindependent.com
