Big inning propels Warriors into baseball semifinals

ANCHORAGE — Hitters can feel an added pressure with two outs in an inning. But that has not been the case for the Wasilla Warriors. Lately, that’s when the Warriors have been at their best.

Wasilla scored eight runs with two outs in the top of the fourth, and posted a 10-0 win over West Valley during the ASAA/First National Bank State Championships quarterfinals Thursday in Anchorage.

“I don’t know how many runs we’ve had in the last four games with two outs,” Wasilla head coach Ken Ottinger said after the win. “It’s always next man out, try not to be the last out, keep pushing.”

Four straight Warriors had a hit with two outs, and six straight reached during the inning.

“They never tensed up,” Ottinger said.

It’s the second straight game Ottinger has seen this from his club. During the Southcentral Conference Championships title game last Friday at Hermon Brothers Field in Palmer, Wasilla scored eight runs in the fifth with two outs during a 15-5 win over Colony.

“Anything can happen with these guys with two outs,” Ottinger said.

Thursday in the fourth, with two outs, the bases loaded, and Balas Buckmaster at the plate, Wasilla’s Jimmy Arend scored on a wild West Valley pitch to give the Warriors the 1-0 lead. Buckmaster promptly placed a double in centerfield to clear the bases and push Wasilla’s lead to 3-0. Kyle Graham, Ben Werner and Cyrus Lovell followed with back-to-back-to-back singles. After Arend — back at the plate for the second time in the inning — drew a walk, Hank Boyer singled to centerfield. Buckmaster, Lovell and Boyer drove in two runs each in the inning. Graham also had an RBI.

The Warriors batted around. Arend reached base twice in the fourth and scored both times.

Buckmaster led the Warriors with two doubles, two runs and two RBI in the win.

“B.B. stepped up once again. He’s been hot all year,” Ottinger said.

Werner also had two hits and two RBI.

Jacob Gilbert and three relievers combined for a four-hit shutout. Gilbert fanned four and walked only one in 3 1/3 of work. Austin Robertson allowed a hit and struck out three in 1 1/3. Werner and Lovell combined to throw 2 1/3 without allowing a hit.

Ottinger said the Warriors had a strategy with their pitching, wanting to keep pitch counts low.

With the win, the Warriors move into the semifinals for the first time since 2014 when they also beat West Valley 5-4 in the quarterfinals. And much like 2014, the Warriors will also face Sitka in the semifinals.

In 2014, Sitka beat Wasilla in the semis and went on to capture the state title. Friday at 4 p.m. at Mulcahy, Wasilla meets a Sitka squad that edged Service 4-3 in the quarterfinals.

“It’s like looking in the mirror kinda,” Ottinger said of the Wolves. “They like to play baseball like we like to play baseball. It should be a good game.”

Lathrop 12, Colony 11

Stephen Trujillo walked and scored in the bottom of the seventh to push Lathrop to a 12-11 win over the Colony Knights during the state quarterfinals Thursday morning at Mulcahy Stadium in Anchorage.

The Trujillo run answered a pair of Colony runs that tied the game at 11 in the top of the inning. Joe Ryan and Kolten Ketchum each singled and scored in the seventh to tie the game.

Both scored had monster fourth innings. Colony struck first, scoring eight times in the top of the inning to take the lead. Lathrop had a quick answer with seven runs in the bottom of the inning. In the sixth, Lathrop used four more runs to take the 11-9 lead.

Zachary Satterly led the Knights with three hits, three RBI and a run scored in the loss. Alex Manning also had three hits. Ketchum scored three times. Eight of Colony’s nine starters finished with at least one run and one RBI.

With the loss, Colony moves backward and will play Juneau-Douglas Friday at 1 p.m. in the consolation semifinals.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.