Moose upset Mariners during opening day of region baseball tourney

PALMER — Arriving as the seventh-seed, the Palmer Moose had the unenviable task of facing the second seed on its home turf. But the Moose came through with the big upset.

Brady Shults used a two-run single in the top of the eighth inning to lead Palmer to a 4-2 win over the Homer Mariners during the first day of the Southcentral Conference Championships Thursday afternoon in Homer.

Skyler Hale recorded the two-out save to help Palmer move forward in the winner’s bracket, where the Moose will face Grace Christian Friday at 1 p.m. in Homer.

Luke Guggenmos made the start on the mound for the Moose, pitching 7 1/3 innings. He scattered five hits, allowed two earned runs, walked five and fanned five.

Homer took a 2-0 lead into the fifth, but Palmer was able to tie the score with a pair in the inning. Cade Holland scored on an Owen Hayes double to put the Moose on the board. Hayes scored on a Skyler Hale single to tie the score at 2.

Hale and Alasdair McKechnie led Palmer with two hits each.

Knights slug Stars

Senior Cooper Smith slugged a pair of home runs to lead Colony to a 17-5 first-round win over Soldotna on Thursday.

Smith hit an early two-run homer and added a three-run dinger, all part of his five-RBI day. Kolten Ketchum drove in four runs in the win. Joe Ryan and Kaden Ketchum added two RBI each. Smith and Ryan scored three runs each. Five different Knights scored twice.

Colony meets Kodiak Friday at 1 p.m. in the winner’s bracket.

Warriors upset

Sixth-seeded Grace Christian upset third-seeded Wasilla 3-2 Thursday.

Jimmy McGovern pitched a complete game for Grace, fanning nine over seven innings. He allowed only two hits and two earned runs.

Wasilla did all of its damage in the first. Kyle Graham hit a lead-off homer for the Warriors, and James Arend scored on a Grace error to give the Warriors the 2-1 lead.

Grace scored twice in the third to take the 3-2 advantage.

McGovern overshadowed the work of Wasilla starter Jacob Gilbert on the mound. Gilbert also pitched a complete game, and struck out 11 without walking a batter.

Wasilla entered the tournament as the four-time region champion.

Wasilla will play Homer in elimination action Friday at 10 a.m.

Hawks split

Houston won the play-in game, and then the Hawks ran into the top team in the bracket.

Ninth-seeded Houston opened play with a 5-4 victory over Kenai Thursday morning. Kodiak beat the Hawks 10-6.

Houston meets Soldotna in an elimination game Friday at 10 a.m.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.