Bloop gives Twins win

WASILLA — The hardest hits don’t always win ball games. Kenai’s Jake Darrow proved that on Wednesday afternoon.

Darrow blooped a single into short left field with two outs in the top of the ninth inning to drive in the game-winning run during a 6-5 victory over the Alaska Road Warriors in the first half of a doubleheader at Lou McManus Field in Wasilla.

“They didn’t hit the ball very hard today, maybe one gapper, the others just fell into holes,” Alaska head coach Steve Mossburgh said after the loss. “But they took advantage of opportunities when they could. We just didn’t do that.”

With Mikey Griffin on board, Kenai used a little small ball to set up Darrow’s game-winning at-bat. While leadoff hitter Justice Elson was at the plate, Griffin stole second to get in scoring position. Elson then used a sacrifice bunt to move Griffin to third.

Darrow did the rest.

“Jake’s at-bat was what we needed,” Kenai head coach John Butler said. “He was down to two strikes, battled and got the single.”

Mossburgh, who watched his team drop to 3-1 in conference play, said it was simply a matter of taking advantage of chances.

“They took their opportunities and scored runs,” Mossburgh said. “We didn’t.”

The Road Warriors, who used four runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a 5-3 lead, collected 11 hits in the game, but Mossburgh was hoping for more from the heart of the order.

“The middle of the lineup just didn’t hit the ball well,” Mossburgh said.

Leadoff hitter Chris Bydlon led the Warriors, going 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored. Kyle Bovy and Eric Washington each collected a pair of hits.

After Mitchell Thompson singled and scored on a Larsen Kohler ground out in the top of the second to give Kenai the 1-0 lead, Alaska shortstop Tommy Brown scored on a Bydlon single to tie the score at 1-1 in the bottom of the inning.

Elson’s leadoff triple in the top of the third sparked a two-run inning for the Twins. Elson drove a pitch into the left center-field gap and motored around to the third to open the inning.

Darrow sent a ball into center to score Elson and give the Twins the 2-1 lead. Thompson added to that advantage with a run-scoring single later in the inning.

After Alaska took a temporary lead, Kenai used a pair of runs off consecutive doubles in the sixth to tie the score at 5.

Thompson, who reached on an error early in the inning, scored on a Vinnie Madrid double. Kohler doubled into center field, allowing Madrid to score.

Alaska did much of its damage in the fourth. After Jaron Christensen-Vavalis drew a leadoff walk, Bydlon, Bovy, JD Mayo and Keith Christopher posted consecutive singles.

With the bases loaded, Mayo singled to center to drive in Christensen-Vavalis. That cut Kenai’s advantage to 3-2. Christopher sent a grounder between a pair of Twins on the right side of the infield to move Bydlon across the plate and tie the score at 3.

Later in the inning, Washington used a two-run single to score Bovy and Mayo, and give Alaska the 5-3 lead.

Starter Matt Packa and Bovy, in relief, worked a combined nine innings for the Warriors on the mound.

“Packa did a great job, the best he’s looked so far,” Mossburgh said. “Kyle Bovy came in and shut them down. He threw the ball well.”

Kenai starter Josh Gilbert threw seven innings for the Twins. Griffin pitched two scoreless innings and earned the win in relief.

Kenai 10, Alaska 8

WASILLA — Kenai posted the sweep of the doubleheader with a 10-8 win over the Alaska Road Warriors in seven innings late Wednesday afternoon.

Christopher led the Warriors with three hits and an RBI in the win. Brown, Bovy and Tommy Rodamer collected two hits each.

Dominic Commerate started the game for Alaska and pitched three innings. Brown, Rodamer and Mayo also saw time on the mound.

Alaska travels to Anchorage tonight to face West at Kosinski Field at 6:30 p.m. The Warriors return to McManus to host Chugiak in a doubleheader Saturday, slated to start at 12:30 p.m.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.