One up, one down

WASILLA — A good ballgame turned bad for the Alaska Road Warriors as the Chugiak Mustangs scored 10 runs in the final two innings to pick up a deceptively lopsided 12-3 American Legion baseball win at McManus Field in Wasilla.

“We just lost focus,” Road Warriors manager Steve Mossburgh said following the game.

Much of the game was a tightly-played defensive contest, with strong starting pitching keeping hitters at bay. Mustangs starter Ty Griffith gave up one run on five hits in six innings of work to get the win. Alaska’s Cole Smith also threw six innings, scattering 10 hits, striking out two and walking six. Smith also picked off two baserunners at first.

The Mustangs took the early lead when center fielder Austin Beck singled to start the game, stole second and scored on a single by Garrett Balen. Balen and Beck terrorized the Road Warriors all game long. Beck was 4-for-6 (including a pair of doubles) with three RBI and three runs scored, while Balen went 3-for-5 with three RBI and a triple.

“That is a very good team,” Mossburgh said of the Mustangs, which moved to 6-0 on the season with the win. The loss dropped the Road Warriors to 4-2 on the season.

Chugiak scratched another run across in the top of the third when Matt Guerts scored on a two-out single by Matt Sullivan.

The Road Warriors made it a one-run game in the bottom of the fifth. Catcher Wes Smith reached on a walk, stole second, advanced to third on the throw and came in to score on Kody Ziter’s RBI single. But that’s all Alaska could muster, as J.D. Mayo lined out to end the threat with the bases loaded.

Alaska had more than its share of chances at the plate, but couldn’t come through with the big hits, leaving 12 runners stranded in the game.

“We had a lot of opportunities that we missed,” Mossburgh said.

Chugiak went up 3-1 in the top of the sixth, getting a run on Beck’s run-scoring two-out double.

Mossburgh said that the game may have taken on a different complexion had the Road Warriors been able to get a couple runs across in the early going.

“I think if we’d have went up on them, it would have been a different game,” he said.

The Road Warriors finished the game with six hits, but had several line drives go for outs throughout the game. Colter Peterson had two hits, while Kody Ziter was 1-for-3 with an RBI. Rhowe Stefanski went 1-for-1 with a run scored, Mike Dotson was 1-for-4 with a double Corey Cowgill was 1-for-3 and Kyle Bovy reached base twice and scored a run.

“We just didn’t have the luck today, we were hitting right at people,” Cowgill said. “We just couldn’t catch any breaks.”

Chugiak stretched its lead out in the eighth against reliever Colter Peterson, picking up three more runs on two hits and two Road Warriors errors.

“We played hard for seven innings,” Mossburgh said.

Alaska got two of those runs back in the eighth, as Kyle Bovy worked a four-pitch walk from Guerts to start a two-out rally. Bovy reached second on a pinch-hit single by Stefanski, then alertly took third on a delayed steal when Guerts turned his back to the Alaska baserunner.

Wes Smith then came to the plate and drove a hard shot into center field that proved too much for Beck to handle. The Chugiak center fielder had the ball glance off his glove for a three-base error, scoring Bovy and Stefanski and cutting the lead to 6-3.

But the floodgates opened in the ninth, as the Mustangs sent a parade of 11 batters to the plate, picking up seven more runs against Peterson and reliever Tommy Rodamer.

The loss to Chugiak comes as a big blow for the Road Warriors, which have high hopes this season after placing third at last year’s state tournament, losing to Chugiak in the consolation bracket final.

But although the lopsided game may look bad on paper, Cowgill said he thinks the team still belongs with the best teams in Alaska.

“There’s always room for improvement, but I think we’re progressing along very well,” he said.

The Road Warriors are off until Tuesday, when they’ll face East at 6:30 p.m. at McManus Field.

MUSTANGS 12, ROAD WARRIORS 3

Chugiak 101 001 037 — 12 19 2

Alaska 000 010 020 — 3 6 4

WP: Griffith. LP: C. Smith. 3B — Balen. 2B — Beck (2), Belk, Oakes.