Fairbanks ends Alaska Road Warriors' season

PALMER — Rhowe Stefanski seemed to have an answer for most of the Fairbanks 49ers he faced on Tuesday.

But not Mike McAllister.

McAllister finished 4-for-5 and scored twice to lead the 49ers to a 6-3 win over the Alaska Road Warriors at Hermon Brothers Field during the Alaska American Legion State Championships on Tuesday.

Stefanski fanned 10 49ers and allowed only one earned run during seven innings of work, but McAllister collected three singles and a triple to help Fairbanks eliminate the Wasilla-based team.

“He pitched well,” Alaska skipper Steve Mossburgh said of Stefanski. “But we had some errors and four unearned runs. The game would have been close without the unearned runs.”

Andrew Wixon tossed seven innings to earn the win. Wixon and reliever Curtis Wolfe teamed together to four-hit the Warriors.

Mike Wagner and Tommy Rodamer each doubled to lead Alaska.

“We couldn’t hit the ball,” Mossburgh said.

With the loss, Alaska finished the 2009 campaign 13-11 overall. The Road Warriors were 11-9 during the regular season and 2-2 in the tourney.

Alaska suffered a loss to Service during the opening round of the tourney, and followed with wins over West Anchorage and East Anchorage.

“When you lose that first game, it makes it kind of tough,” Mossburgh said. “You get down in that loser’s bracket, and you’ve got to win every day to keep playing.”

Despite the loss, Mossburgh said he’s happy with his team’s effort throughout the tournament.

“Overall, we had our ups and downs, but we played pretty good baseball,” said Mossburgh, who likened the tournament to his team’s season. “During the season we had some ups and downs, but we played pretty well all year.”

Mossburgh said the Warriors have a solid nucleus that could return next year. All but three varsity players — Eli Graber, Kyle Bovy and Keith Christopher — are eligible to play next season.

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