Road Warriors fifth seed in state tourney

WASILLA — Throughout the summer, Alaska Road Warriors head coach Steve Mossburgh has continued to praise the potential of his squad.

“This is probably one of the best teams I’ve ever coached,” Mossburgh said Thursday evening. “If they play like I know they can, play error-free ball and get some good pitching, I don’t think there is anybody we couldn’t beat.”

Now the Wasilla-based squad has its chance to see where it ranks among the state best during the American Legion state tournament, which starts today at Mulcahy Stadium in Anchorage.

The Road Warriors, who finished 12-8 in the regular, season hold the fifth seed and open against fourth-seeded Chugiak Saturday at 9 a.m.

“Chugiak’s a very good team, well-coached,” Mossburgh said of the Mustangs, who split a pair of regular-season games with the Warriors. “I think we match up pretty even with them.”

Chugiak, South Anchorage and the Road Warriors finished in a three-way tie for third place in the regular season standings with identical 12-8 marks. Thanks to a series of tiebreakers, South Anchorage drew the third seed. Run differential gave Chugiak the edge over the Wasilla club and the fourth seed.

Heading in to the summer season, Mossburgh figured his squad had the potential to finish among the top tier in the state.

“I thought we could finish somewhere in the top five,” Mossburgh said. “Throughout the season, we had a couple of wins that slipped away from us. We could have finished as high as three.”

The Road Warriors have had a busy July, with 20 games during the first 18 days of the month. The team competed in three tournaments — the Todd Ryan Memorial in Wasilla, Bill Miller Wood Bat Invitational in Kenai and BP Invitational in Anchorage — and capped the regular season with eight games in six days.

After finishing the season against Chugiak last Sunday, Mossburgh gave his team the Monday and Tuesday off.

“I think it really helped them,” Mossburgh said. “We had a few minor injuries, but they told me they’re feeling good now.”

With a win on Saturday, the Road Warriors would move into the winner’s bracket and play Monday at 1 p.m. A loss would send the team into the loser’s bracket and to a match Sunday at 2;15 p.m.

The tourney ends on July 30.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.