Eagles gun down Road Warriors

WASILLA -- A nifty West bunt and the arm of Eagle catcher Kyle Wagg stymied any hopes of an Alaska Road Warrior victory on Tuesday.

Garrett Prokosh squeezed in a runner with the bases loaded in the sixth inning to tie the score and Wagg gunned down a bevy of runners to help West preserve the win.

The West American Legion post held on for the 4-2

victory.

Down 2-1, West collected a pair of singles and a walk to load the bases. With the bases jammed, Prokosh laid a bunt down the first base side and Warrior first baseman Dan Mahoney did not get a clean handle on the ball as Eric Zimmerman scored to tie the game at 2-2.

"We got a big bunt from our little freshman," West head coach Jeff Blake said. "We were real confident. He is one that stands in there and makes contact."

The Eagles immediately took a 3-2 lead when Wagg scored on a Matt Smith wild pitch.

Wagg not only scored the eventual game scoring run, but he nearly kept the Warriors from scoring any runs of their own.

Alaska consistently tried to move runners in scoring position, but had runners picked off by the Eagle catcher on a number of occasions.

The deadliest putout came in the seventh inning. Down a pair of runs, the Warriors had runners at first and second with no outs. Alaska tried the double steal and Wagg gunned down Josh Morlan at third base.

Cutting off the lead runner proved key for the Eagles as the next Warrior hitter, Alan Morlan, singled into right field.

"That was the difference in the game," Road Warrior skipper Pete Powell said.

Wagg threw out four runners during the contest, catching Smith at second and both Jordan Chadwell and John Coan at third.

"Those were inning killers," Blake said. "At third we have the little freshman Prokosh. He always catches the ball and Kyle trusts him.

"Kyle's got a good arm."

Blake said that the Eagle catcher will most likely play for Central Arizona Community College next season.

West used the philosophy that everyone in an orange and black uniform can hit the mound, as they used eight pitchers in the seven-inning game.

Starter Eric Regan only faced two hitters and the seven Eagle relievers pitched an inning each.

"We have got our district tournament starting on Friday and I did not want to overwork anyone," Blake said.

Smith pitched six and two-third innings for the Warriors. Smith allowed just three hits and struck out seven, but walked six hitters.

The Valdez native did not allow a hit until the sixth inning, but allowed four of the first five West hitters on base in the top of the sixth and threw a crucial wild pitch.

"He hadn't pitched in seven days, so that's my fault," Powell said. "He had been hitting the hell out of the ball and we backed off his mound work. We've been playing him at second base and we havn't given him his bullpen work. He wasn't sharp."

Alaska put 13 runners aboard in the contest, recording seven hits and six walks.

"We just didn't take advantage of them early," Powell said. "We gave them to many opportunities."

Dude Hoosier led the Warriors at the plate with a pair of hits and possibly the longest single of the season.

In the second inning, Hoosier put a ball off the left center field wall, but took a tumble rounding first base and was only able to record the one-bagger.

Next on the Warriors' agenda is the district tournament in Fairbanks. Though they are assured a spot in the state tourney, the Road Warriors will be vying for a quality seed in the state event. Three state berths are granted in the district and currently Alaska, Fairbanks and Kenai are the only teams in the district.

The Warriors have been putting together one of their best seasons in years.

Midway through the season, Alaska won five consecutive games. They only won three prior to the streak and three all of last year.

Alaska has 11 wins on the season and won the championship of the tournament it hosts, the Todd Ryan Memorial.

The squad is made up of current and former players from the four area high schools.