American Legion baseball: Road Warriors club West

July 27, 2007

By MATT TUNSETH/ Frontiersman

WASILLA - Sometimes a team needs a bit of a wake-up call.

After watching his team give away two unearned runs in the top of the second inning, Alaska Road Warriors head coach Steve Mossburgh gathered his squad outside the home dugout for a rather spirited pep talk.

&#8220I gave them a bit of a talking to,” Mossburgh said after the game.

Mossburgh's mid-inning tongue lashing did the trick, as the Road Warriors went on to outscore West 13-1 en route to a 13-3 win at Lou McManus Field in Wasilla.

The Road Warriors made two errors in the top of the second, and had another mental miscue in the outfield that led to West's second run of the game. Most disturbing to the Alaska coach, Mossburgh said, was that starting pitcher Cole Smith was doing a good job of keeping the ball down and getting what should have been routine outs.

&#8220We've got to cut down on our mistakes and give our pitchers a chance,” Mossburgh said.

As it turned out, Smith only worked four innings while throwing more than 70 pitches. The righthander was his usual solid self, scattering just six hits over four and striking out four before losing steam and giving way to Chris Breck in the fifth.

&#8220We don't have the pitching staff to throw 70 to 80 pitches in four innings,” he said.

Despite giving up the early lead, the Road Warriors had plenty of firepower to mount a comeback. Alaska picked up a run in the bottom of the second on an RBI sacrifice fly by shortstop Josh Boring, then exploded for five straight runs to open the third.

West starter Dylan Wisthoff didn't retire a batter in the inning and wound up giving up six runs in only two plus innings of work.

&#8220I've been telling them we've got to work these pitchers,” Mossburgh said.

Alaska first baseman Mike Dotson and catcher Wes Smith each had RBI singles in the third, while third baseman Carl Brent added a run-scoring double.

The Road Warriors picked up two more runs in the fourth on the strength of singles from Dotson and left fielder Corey Cowgill, as well as a sacrifice fly by Wes Smith.

The game ended in the fifth by mercy rule as Alaska pushed five more runs across the plate without recording an out. Center fielder Mike Dupuis drew a walk - Alaska's 12th free pass of the game - to score Dotson with the bases loaded to fishing off the Eagles.

&#8220They were very patient at the plate,” Mossburgh said.

The win pushed Alaska's record to 13-6 and enabled the Road Warriors to remain in the hunt to earn a high seed at next week's state tournament. Seeding at state is important because the Road Warriors would prefer to avoid an early-round matchup with Chugiak, which has dominated legion play this season, rolling to an 18-1 record.

The Road Warriors will finish off the year Saturday with a showdown against the Mustangs, who boast the state's top pitcher in Conner Spink.

Mossburgh said Thursday's win was big because it helps his team build momentum heading toward the post season.

&#8220It helps to go into the tournament with wins, it gives us confidence,” he said.

No matter who his team plays at state, however, Mossburgh said he believes the club has the talent to make a strong run.

&#8220They can play with anybody.”

Contact Matt Tunseth at 352-2265 or matt.tunseth@frontiersman.com

Road Warriors 13, Eagles 3 (5 Inn.)

WEST

name ab r h bi

Zimmerman cf 2 0 1 0

Mezica 3b 2 0 0 0

Wisthoff p 2 1 1 0

Evans ss 2 0 2 1

McDonald 1b 2 0 2 1

Allen lf 2 1 0 0

Kosinski 2b 2 1 2 0

Vongsanath 1b 2 0 0 0

Keim rf 2 0 0 0

Totals 18 3 6 1

ALASKA

Name ab r h bi

Boring ss 0 1 0 0

Briceland rf 4 1 0 0

Eli dh 3 2 0 0

Cowgill lf 1 3 1 0

Dotson 1b 4 3 3 1

WSmith c 1 1 1 3

CaSmith 2b 1 1 1 3

Dupuis cf 2 0 0 1

Brent 3b 2 0 1 1

Totals 18 13 7 7

WEST 021 00 - 3

ALASKA 015 25 - 13

E - West 5, Alaska 3. LOB - West 5, Alaska 6. 2B - Evans, Brent. SB - Zimmerman, Ca. Smith, Boring, Briceland. CS - Evans. Sac - Dupuis, Boring, Ca. Smith.

WEST IP H R ER BB SO

Wisthoff 2 2 5 4 4 0

Zimmerman 2 2 7 1 5 0

Vongsanath 0 1 1 0 3 0

WASILLA

CaSmith 4 6 3 1 3 4

Breck 1 0 0 0 0 2

HBP - Cowgill by Wisthoff, Brent by Wisthoff. WP - Wisthoff, Zimmerman (2).