Rain delaying first round of state baseball tourney

PALMER — Rain is threatening the first day of the ASAA/First National Bank State Baseball Championships at Hermon Brothers Field in Palmer.

As of 11:15 a.m. Thursday, first-round play had been delayed until weather improves, Mat-Su Miners general manager and Hermon Brothers Field head groundskeeper Pete Christopher said.

West Valley and West Anchorage had taken the field for the first of four scheduled first-round matches before game officials were forced to pull tarps over the mound and home plate.

Colony High School is the host of the eight-team, three-day state championships. CHS activities director Mike Boyd said if play can’t resume Thursday, first- and second-round games will be rescheduled on to two fields.

“If we can’t go through today, we’ll probably use Hermon Brothers and the (American) Legion field (Friday),” Boyd said just before noon Thursday.

Boyd said Steve Mossburgh, the head coach of the Wasilla-based Alaska Road Warriors American Legion baseball squad, has offered their diamond, McManus Field in Wasilla to be used for the state tournament.

— Jeremiah Bartz