Retiring teacher, coach urges Colony grads to ‘find their 68’
By Jeremiah Bartz Frontiersman.com A football coach using a hockey reference as the centerpiece for his keynote address may
2 min read
June 3, 2007
By MATT TUNSETH/ Frontiersman
WASILLA - Wasilla capped its season Thursday with a 12-1 win over Palmer at the Bumpus Softball Complex in Wasilla. The win cemented a berth in next week's state tournament in Anchorage for the Warriors, who finished the season with a 6-5 record in the Railbelt
Conference.
Wasilla ended the year in fourth place in the conference, grabbing the final Railbelt playoff spot.
“I'm very pleased,” Wasilla coach Sue Allen said Saturday.
Allen said she believes her team is playing better than it has all season. According to standings on the Alaska Schools Activities Association Web site, Wasilla finished the season with a 6-5 record, good enough for third place in the Railbelt Conference.
“The girls look stronger now than they have all season,” Allen said.
The Warriors were led all season by pitcher Anne Wesser, who finished the season with 169 strikeouts in just 84 innings pitched, for an average of two per inning. Wesser, a senior, averaged 11.3 strikeouts per game in leading her team to a 9-6 overall record.
Leading the way for Wasilla offensively during the regular season was Jordan Elkins, who ended the year with a .439 batting average with 20 runs scored. Elkins failed to score a run in just two of Wasilla's games this year.
Both Wesser and Elkins were recently named to the All-Railbelt team.
“Both were well deserved,” Allen said. “I think both of those girls could be the top players on any team.”
Wasilla will get its post season underway Friday, Allen said, when the Warriors face East Anchorage at Cartee Fields in Anchorage. Game time has yet to be determined. According to the ASAA, a full schedule is slated to be released today on its Web site, www.asaa.org.
Allen said she thinks the Warriors are in good shape to make a solid run.
“I really feel like we have a chance to do something at state,” she said.
Wasilla is the only Mat-Su team to earn one of the four conference bids to state. Both Colony (3-7) and Palmer (0-7) missed out on post season play.
Both teams, however, were represented on the All-Railbelt team, with Palmer pitcher Geneva Ratcliff and Colony catcher Kelsey Stein earning all-conference recognition.
Contact Matt Tunseth at 352-2265 or matt.tunseth@frontiersman.com
All-Railbelt Conference
Bonnie Heinekien (p) North Pole; Jen Hall (c) North Pole; Jessica Hollis (rf) North Pole; Andrea Doerflinger (p) Juneau; Madison Massey (1b/p) Juneau; Anne Wesser (p) Wasilla; Jordan Elkins (c/1b) Wasilla; Jordan Reeves (c) Lathrop; Nona Letuilgasanoa (cf) Lathrop; Christy Wizzell (cf) West Valley; Kelsey Stein (c) Colony; Geneva Ratcliff (p) Palmer
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