Pioneers trying to help build a baseball foundation in Palmer

PALMER — Friday evening, Tim Rockey dumped a bucket full of baseballs on the turf of Machetanz Field at Palmer High School. About 60 feet away stood a batting cage parked right in front of a field goal post. It’s not the ideal place for Rockey, the first-year head coach of the Palmer Pioneers American Legion baseball team, to throw batting practice. But at this point, Rockey and his assistants are trying to do whatever it takes to keep American Legion baseball alive on the Palmer end of the Valley.

Rockey, a 2011 graduate of Palmer High School, is now at the helm of Palmer Post 15’s baseball program. Rockey, a former PHS baseball standout who also played Americna Legion ball for the Wasilla Post 35’s Alaska Road Warriors, is in charge of the second attempt to resurrect Palmer legion baseball in the last three years. The Palmer Post was part of an expansion effort prior to the 2014 summer season. The team played a full season, but did not have enough players to field a team in 2015. Last year, the Alaska Road Warriors featured a combined squad, with players from both Palmer Post 15 and Wasilla Post 35.

Rockey, who rose through the ranks of Valley baseball starting with his days in Palmer Little League, said he wants to do what he can to make the second attempt to build a Palmer team a success.

“It’s huge for me to be a part of helping baseball grown in Palmer,” Rockey said.

The Rockey-led Pioneers have faced their hurdles early. The team shares a field with the Palmer Little League, and sometimes has to find alternatives, such as Machetanz Field, for a practice venue. The team has also struggled to maintain a consistent number of players early in the season. Teams are required to have at least 15 at the beginning of the season, and must again have at least that number at the American Legion roster deadline June 25. Rockey said the Pioneers have faced the same challenges that any other summer baseball team meets. Players’ family vacations and work commitments are often juggled.

Rockey said the team hasn’t had the full 15 players it had at the beginning of the season. One starter has already been lost for the season because of injury. But the Pioneers have been able to compete, for the most part. Palmer did have to forfeit a road game at West Anchorage last week because the Pioneers didn’t have enough players that day.

“We’ve only had the one forfeit. Hopefully that’s the only one we’ll have,” Rockey said.

American Legion officials have been supportive of the Palmer post's efforts, and Rockey said he hopes to add at least four players who are currently playing at the Little League level once the Little League seasons ends later this month. The minimum age to play American Legion baseball is 14.

Despite the lack of overall numbers, Rockey said he’s excited about his core group of talent. That group includes Wyatt Shults, Cooper McLaughlin and Austin Reeder, the team’s captains. Shults is a 2015 graduate of PHS, playing in his final season of American Legion eligibility. McLaughlin was among the leaders on the Colony High baseball program in 2016, and Reeder was among the leaders on the Palmer High squad during the spring season.

Each of the three were also players on a 2014 Palmer Pioneers squad that finished the season 1-24.

“My goal right away was to get them two wins and go from there,” Rockey said of that trio.

The Pioneers are currently 1-5.

The Pioneers are made up of products from the Palmer High and Colony High programs. Cole Doss, Joe Ryan and Kolten Ketchum join McLaughlin among the Colony players on the team. Damion Bailey, Jarred Yanez, Cody Grogan and Peyton Garretson as the Palmer High products in the program.

Rockey said the goal this year is to lay the foundation for the future of Pioneers baseball.

“It’s definitely a building year,” Rockey said.

Overall, Rockey said he wants to help baseball grow again on the Palmer side, and be as popular as it was with kids during his playing days.

“Everybody at my elementary school played Little League, and everybody kept playing,” Rockey said. “It’s big for me to give more kids the opportunity to get more playing time in baseball.”

Palmer is currently one of 16 American Legion varsity programs in Alaska playing in a pair of eight-team conferences. Palmer is joined by rival Wasilla in the American Division, along with Kenai, Dimond, South, West and two squads from Fairbanks.

For more on the Alaska Road Warriors, see frontiersman.com/sports, or the adjacent story in the Sunday, June 19, edition of the Frontiersman.

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