State Tournament
Game 5 of 15
Eagle River 1, Dimond 0

Connor Johnson's sac fly in the bottom of the seventh inning drove in Liam Lierman with the winning run as Eagle River walked off with a 1-0 win over Dimond Post 21 on Day 2 of the Alaska Legion State Tournament at Mulcahy Stadium.

Lierman led off the seventh with a walk and then stole second base before moving to third on Noah Lower's sac bunt. With a runner on third and one out, Dimond was forced to intentionally walk the next two batters to load the bases and hope to turn an inning-ending double play.

Johnson smacked the first pitch he saw to center field, deep enough to score Lierman with the winning run to move the defending state champions to 2-0 in this year's tournament.

Eagle River pitchers Karson Kolberg and Alex Mullen combined on a 2-hit shutout.

Kolberg threw only 56 pitches, incouding a six-pitch gem in the second inning.

This was the Wolves' second 1-0 win in their last three state tournament games, dating back to last year's state title game against South.

Dimond's Garrett Lick pitched five shutout innings to earn a no decision. He also delivered the game's only extra-base hit with a double in the fifth inning.

He made his biggest impact on the bump, striking out for of the first five batters and finishing with a half dozen punch outs.

Ryan Swanstrom pitched a clean sixth inning, getting a flyout with the bases loaded to end the threat. He also banged out his team's other base hit.

Dimond catcher Joe Moriarty threw out a base runner in the third inning.

Eagle River (25-10, 2-0 in Pool)
Karson Kolberg 5IP 2H 0R 1K
Alex Mullen 2IP 0H 0R 2K
Connor Johnson 1-3 SF GWRBI
Liam Lierman 1-2 R 2SB HBP BB

Dimond (18-12, 1-1 in Pool)
Garrett Lick 5IP 0R 6K 1-2 2B
Ryan Swanstrom 1-3 1.1IP