Kenai snaps Warriors’ win streak, then Wasilla pitcher hurls no-hitter

KENAI — Anyone wondering how the Alaska Road Warriors would handle losing their first game of the season didn’t have long to ponder. After dropping a 6-5 extra-innings decision to the Kenai Twins in the opener of a double-header Sunday, Warriors pitcher Jacob Butcher carved up the Twins, throwing a complete-game, no-hit shutout, a 2-0 win.

“He pitched a heck of a game,” Road Warriors head coach Myrl Thompson said. “He threw all nine innings, a shutout, and he threw only 94 pitches.”

The loss in the first game snapped an eight-game winning streak for the Road Warriors, but the Wasilla-based American Legion AA team still leads the league standings by five points over second-place Chugiak, which the Warriors beat 10-0 on Friday.

For Thompson, Butcher’s no-hitter showed that his team may have lost a close game, but not its focus.

“They were a little disappointed in themselves, because we shouldn’t won the first game, too,” he said. “We passed them (on the scoreboard) in the last inning, and they came back again on a booted play. They played well and their pitcher played well. We just came up a little short in extra innings.”

In that first game, the Twins jumped out to an early 3-1 lead after the first inning, but the Road Warriors clawed back and had tied the game at 3 after three innings. In the bottom of the sixth, Kenai took the lead again 4-1 going into the final regulation inning. But Wasilla was ready, posting two runs in the top of the seventh to take a 5-4 lead. But a Road Warrior error helped Kenai tie the game, and the Twins won in the bottom of the eighth.

Although the Road Warriors lost, they made Kenai earn the win. In that eighth inning, Tommie Bowe was on first base for the Twins when he stole second base. A Wasilla infielder then told Bowe that the pitch had been fouled off — it hadn’t — tricking Bowe into returning to first.

Bowe would steal second again later in the inning, but the trickery served as a good microcosm of the game — a victory was there for the taking for both teams, and both teams had trouble grasping it.

With Bowe on second, Colin Coresetti came to the plate for Kenai. He stroked a ball over Butcher, who was playing right field in the first game. That scored Bowe and ended the game.

For Coresetti, it was the capper to a good game, where he hit 3-for-5. It was also was a positive finish for a strong start for Kenai pitcher Tyler Fritz.

Fritz went 6 2-3 innings, giving up five hits and five runs, with just two earned. It took a fine effort by Fritz to defeat the Road Warriors, who came into the game 8-0 in the league.

“It was probably my best game I ever threw,” Fritz said. “When I started warmups, I told my catcher, ‘I’m glad I’m throwing today.’”

Despite errors behind him, Fritz was able to navigate a powerful lineup, three times stranding runners at third base.

“I just had to tell myself the defense will make plays,” Fritz said. “All I have to do is throw strikes.”

The one player Fritz had no luck with was Jonathan Boyer, who finished 2-for-4 with two doubles and three RBI. In the seventh inning, it momentarily looked like Boyer had ruined Fritz’s outing. Facing a 4-3 deficit, Wasilla’s Cooper Hanson opened the inning with a single that left him on third after a two-base error by center fielder Ethan Oliver. Hanson tied the game when he scored on an error by Corsetti that also put Tyler Hansen on second.

Fritz retired the next two batters, but Boyer doubled to score Hansen, giving the Warriors a 5-4 lead and chasing Fritz.

Butcher says ‘no-no’

Wasilla regrouped from their first loss of the season quickly with a dominant performance by Butcher on the mound. He silenced the Twins for the no-hitter, although not without a little scorekeeping controversy.

While the Road Warriors have Butcher as throwing a no-hitter, the Kenai scorekeeper had the Twins with one hit — by Hector Rivera in the seventh inning. Kenai gave him a hit, Thompson said, while the Wasilla scorekeeper has the play as a fielder’s choice. More importantly, though, is the Road Warriors’ book is the official one for that game, he said.

“We needed Jake to really come through with a gem, and he did,” Thompson said. “He pretty much won that game for us.”

As for that Rivera at-bat in the seventh, “it was a fielder’s choice,” he said. “They had a guy on first and we threw over to second to get that runner and (Rivera) was safe at first. I think that’s what they were considering a hit.”

Perhaps buried a little bit by Butcher’s no-hitter was a very strong pitching performance by Kenai starter Brandon Mahle. Mahle allowed only one hit and one run in seven innings of work. For the game, the Road Warriors could only muster three hits, but made the most of them, Thompson said.

“Kenai threw their ace and he threw a great game,” he said. “But we managed to squeak out a couple runs in there.”

Riding a winning streak is fun, Thompson said, but he’s not worried that the loss to Kenai will cause the Road Warriors to lose momentum. Also, sitting at 9-1 10 games into the season, where eight of those games have been played on the road, is a good position.

“Realistically, losses happen in baseball every year,” he said. “We were just fortunate enough not to get one early and build up some wins. There are teams that are certainly capable of beating us if we’re not on our toes. … You have some memorable seasons over the years and this is one of those special teams.”

The Road Warriors will next see action at 6:30 p.m., Wednesday— again on the road — against West Anchorage.

Peninsula Clarion Sports Editor Jeff Helminiak contributed to this report.