Road Warriors, 2011 runners-up, return to state as No. 5 seed

WASILLA — If the Alaska Road Warriors want to move forward in the American Legion state tournament this weekend, the Wasilla-based team will most likely have to beat arguably the two toughest teams in Alaska during the first two rounds.

But the Road Warriors are OK with that. It would just be a lot like last year.

The Road Warriors, who finished as the state runner-up last season, will enter tourney play as the No. 5 seed in the Alaska American Legion State Tournament, which starts Friday at Mulcahy Stadium in Anchorage.

“It’s interesting,” Road Warriors head coach Myrl Thompson said Monday about the seeding.

The Road Warriors are expected to open tourney play Friday at 6:45 p.m. against fourth-seeded South Anchorage. That matchup is interesting, pitting the state-runner up Road Warriors against a South team that boasts plenty of talent from a South High team that won the state tournament during the prep season.

South has been among the top legion teams this summer, but dropped to the No. 4 seed thanks to a 3-0 loss to Service on Monday afternoon at Mulcahy.

A Road Warriors win Friday could move them into a match with top-seed Dimond on Sunday. The Lynx would have to get through their first-round game, a contest against either the No. 8 or No. 9 seed. The Warriors have quite the rivalry against Dimond as of late, dropping decisions that have been tough to stomach.

Thompson said he has officially protested his team’s 6-5 loss to Dimond in Anchorage. He suspects a bat that does not conform with league rules was used during the game.

“I’m not crying over a 6-5 loss, I just want to play them again,” Thompson said.

Dimond leads a top-5 that’s locked into the seedings. Fairbanks is second, while Service is third. The Road Warriors are still looking for their first win of the season against South and Dimond, but have had success against both Fairbanks and Service.

The Road Warriors will head into tourney play after capping the regular season with a 14-0 drubbing of Chugiak. Veteran Isaac Coursen pitched a complete-game, two-hit shutout.

“Coursen pitched a heck of a game,” Thompson said.

He also fanned five Mustangs.

The Road Warriors jumped to the early lead, scoring four times in the first and the second and five more runs in the third.

Scott Kramer and Eric Marshall led the Road Warriors with two hits each. Kramer, Tim Rockey and John Stormont drove in two runs each. Brody Coleman scored three times and was one of five Road Warriors with two runs scored.

See the tournament bracket at alaskalegion.com.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/matsu_sports.