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WASILLA — It might be time for the Alaska Road Warriors to start thinking about another name.

With 20 of its 22 regular season games set to be played at Wasilla’s Lou McManus Field, the Post 35 American Legion team won’t have to spend much time on the road this season. And manager Steve Mossburgh doesn’t mind that a bit.

“It helps us out tremendously because even when we’re the visitors, we’re playing on our home field,” Mossburgh said at practice Thursday.

The Road Warriors play so many home games because of a lack of playing fields in Anchorage, where the majority of the state’s teams are based. So to alleviate pressure on the few Anchorage fields, city-based teams travel to the Valley, where they play both home and away games throughout the season. In addition to having most of its regular season games at home, the Road Warriors will also host their annual Todd Ryan tournament, which this year will see the team host squads from Fairbanks, Service, Chugiak, East Anchorage and Napoleon, Ohio.

The only problem comes when the Road Warriors have to leave the friendly confines of Lou McManus for their two big road trips — a swing through Fairbanks and the Kenai at the end of June and then the state tournament at Mulcahy Stadium in Anchorage.

“It turns into a disadvantage also because they don’t get used to playing on other fields,” he said.

Still, Mossburgh said he’s not complaining about the current set-up.

“The advantage outweighs the disadvantage,” Mossburgh said.

A bigger disadvantage for the team in the early season could be a lack of chemistry. That’s not because the players don’t like each other, but because several key Road Warriors won’t be able to join the team until Colony High players return from the state high school tournament.

“We won’t be able to practice together until Sunday or Monday, and our first game is Tuesday [against Service],” Mossburgh said.

Colony had the strongest high school season this year among Valley schools, and a number of Knights will be expected to help out the Road Warriors. That group includes four pitchers — Chris Breck, Rhowe Stefanski, Colter Peterson and Matt Packa — who are likely to log big innings for the team. Breck and Packa got big innings last season, while Peterson and Stefanski are Legion newcomers who Mossburgh said will help add strength to an already-deep rotation that will also include Palmer High standout lefty Cole Smith.

“Our pitching staff this year is a lot stronger than it was last year,” Mossburgh said.

Mossburgh said he has probably eight players who will log innings, including five left-handers.

Last year’s Road Warriors team had one of the most successful runs for the program in recent history, finishing third in the state tournament. While pitching is likely to be a strong suit, the Road Warriors may struggle to find runs, after losing a number of key hitters from last year’s squad, including Rob Fitch, Tyler Eli and Corey Cowgill. Both Cowgill and Fitch had Legion eligibility left after graduating high school last year, but elected not to return to the team.

Also, Colony standout shortstop Josh Boring has decided not to play Legion ball this season.

One player who is back though is big infielder Mike Dotson, who Mossburgh said will be called upon to add some pop to the middle of the order after spending his freshman year playing college baseball Outside.

“He can’t wait to get back,” Mossburgh said of Dotson.

Other top returning players for the Road Warriors this year should include a number of familiar names, including catcher Wes Smith and outfielders Chris Bydlon and Eric Washington.

Mossburgh said he’ll likely use several players at a number of different positions, depending on who’s pitching that day.

“We’re a little stronger with our pitching, but we’re a little bit weaker with our defense up the middle,” he said.

Despite having to piece together a new lineup, Mossburgh said he’s excited about this year’s prospects of making another strong run into the state tournament.

“We’ll fill in with what we’ve got and go from there.”

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

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