Road Warriors continue run in American Legion region tourney

Wasilla scored seven runs with two outs in the top of the seventh inning to erase an 8-4 deficit then hung on in the bottom half, ending the game on a 9-6 double play to score a wild 11-10 win and eliminate the Cody Cubs from the Northwest Class A Regional Tournament Monday in Anchorage

With the win, Wasilla moves forward to play Marsh Valley (Idaho) Tuesday at noon at Mulcahy Stadium in Anchorage.

Alex Prayner’s two-run single put the Road Warriors ahead for good at 9-8 and they tacked on two more on a Brandon Hina’s RBI single and an error to carry an 11-8 lead into the bottom of the seventh.

Cody’s Jack Schroeder completed his 4-for-4 night at the dish with an RBI single that pulled the Wyoming state champs within 11-9. The Cubs had the bases loaded with one out when Dominic Phillips hit a flyball to right field. It was far enough to drive in one run from third, but the baserunner at second was called out for leaving the base too early and the game ended on a 9-6 double play.

With the win, Wasilla survived and advanced. The Road Warriors have been the ultimate tournament team under head coach Ken Ottinger, who is 23-6 in postseason games dating back to 2018.

Wasilla avenged a 7-2 loss to Cody on Day 1 and gave Alaska its first win over a Lower 48 team in six games at this year's NWCART.

This is the second straight year Wasilla has advanced to the final day of the NWCART. In 2019, the Road Warriors marched all the way to the title game to become the first Alaska team to reach the championship game of a regional tournament. There was no tournament in 2020 so that doesn’t count.

Wasilla (16-16) wasn’t supposed to get this far. The team didn’t make the state tournament, forcing Wasilla to win the Matson Invitational to qualify for the NWCART. Then the Road Warriors lost on Day 1, forcing them to win three straight games – first beating Palmer for the first time in five meetings this season; then beating Alaska's regular-season No. 1 seed South; and then coming back from the dead to shock Cody.

Cody led 8-4 with two outs in the seventh before an error left the door open for Wasilla to come storming back. Wasilla seems to be a team of destiny at this point after coming back from deficits of 5-0 and 8-4.

Tristan Blatt crushed a solo home run over the left-field fence at Bartlett High School to give Cody (47-15) a 5-0 lead. Cody loaded the bases in the fifth inning with no outs but got only one run on Tyler Grenz's bases-loaded walk. Chance Moss gave his team an 8-4 advantage with a sac fly in the sixth.

Wasilla didn't get on the scoreboard until the fifth inning when Jacob Hansen's RBI single made it 5-1. Next up was one of the biggest at-bats of the night as Andre Brown’s two-out, two-run single pulled Wasilla within 5-3 and capped an epic 12-pitch battle against Cody pitcher Devyn Engdahl, who threw six strong innings and was in line for the win.

Wasilla 13, South 9

Pedro Camacho went 3-for-3 with the go-ahead RBI triple in the third inning and pitcher Brandon Hina made it stick as Wasilla knocked the 30-win South Wolverines out of the Northwest Class A Regional Tournament at Mulcahy Stadium.

Wasilla rallied back from an early 5-1 deficit with a 10-run third inning outburst that saw Camacho, Alex Prayner, Andre Brown and Nolan Murphy drive in runs. Camacho’s triple gave the Road Warriors the lead for good at 6-5 and he later scored on a fadeaway slide, just missing the tag.

Brown and Murphy each had two RBIs in that big inning – Brown got his on a two-run single while Murphy got his on separate singles. The two sluggers combined to go 4-for-7 and scored four runs.

Wasilla (15-16) improved to 6-1 in the postseason this summer. The Road Warriors went 4-0 en route to winning the Matson Invitational to qualify for the NWCART. They are 2-1 in this tournament, making them 5-3 at the NWCART since 2019.

Hina pitched well in his 5.2 innings, scattering four hits and four walks. He looked good, then not so good, then was good again.

He worked around three errors to throw a scoreless first inning and then pitched a 1-2-3 second. He lost his command in the third inning as three walks and a hit by pitch helped fueled South’s five-run frame.

His disappointment didn’t last.

Wasilla put up a 10-spot top put the Road Warriors the lead for good and Hina responded by retiring six of the next seven batters. In the fifth, he got some glove love from his battery mate, catcher Camacho, who threw out a baserunner from his knees at second base.

Wasilla banged out 12 hits, with Will Plowman going 3-for-4 as one of two players with three hits.

South (30-5) got another strong offensive game from Maddux Soland, who was 3-for-4 with an RBI. He leads the tournament with six RBIs. Isaac Johnson added a two-out, two-run single in the third to make it 5-1.

Hunter Manderson hit a two-out, two-run single and later scored to pull the Wolverines within 13-9.

Wasilla 5, Palmer 4

Nolan Murphy crushed a three-run home run early and Wasilla held on late to beat its Mat-Su Valley rival for the first time in five meetings this season in a loser-out game on Day 2 of Northwest Class A Regional Tournament at Mulcahy Stadium.

Andre Brown went 3-for-3 with an RBI, stolen base and run scored for Wasilla. Starter Levi Farrelly started and went 6.1 innings before giving way to Jacob Hansen, who recorded a two-out save.

It was the fourth NWCART win for Wasilla head coach Ken Ottinger, making him Alaska’s active tournament wins leader. Ottinger’s fingerprints were all over this victory as the Road Warriors (14-16) used aggressive base runner to complement strong pitching.

Murphy gave Wasilla a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the first inning after hitting his third home run in six postseason games. Prayner’s RBI single three batters later made it 4-1.

Farrelly made it stick, throwing scoreless frames in the second, third and sixth innings. He gave up six hits and one earned run among the four on his watch.

Palmer’s Koen Leaders pulled his team within 4-2 in the fourth inning with a two-out RBI single. But Brown answered in the bottom half with his own two-out RBI single to push Wasilla three ahead at 5-2.

That’s when the Pioneers settled in, getting runs in the fifth and seventh in support of starter Landon Guggenmos, who pitched better the longer the game lasted. He pitched all six innings, needing only 82 pitches. He had a four-pitch fifth inning and a 1-2-3 sixth. He retired 13 of the last 16.

Evan Walker was back in the lineup for Palmer and his presence was felt as he reached base three out of four times. He singled and scored in the fifth and tripled and scored in the seventh, helping the Pioneers put the tying run on base.

But Hansen sealed the deal. He actually had a hand in making all three outs in the seventh inning – one at third base and two at pitcher. He snagged and then dropped a line drive off the bat of Kaden Ketchum but had time to still get the out at first, thanks to first baseman Prayner, who grabbed an errant throw and barely tagged out the runner. It was a big play because Marks tripled the next at-bat.

Palmer was eliminated from the NWCART and finished the season 15-16.