Road Warriors poised to make waves this summer

MAT-SU — The last few years have been eventful for Valley baseball.

The Wasilla-based Alaska Road Warriors American Legion Post 35 AA squad finished fourth last year and second two years ago, when it earned a trip to play in an out-of-state tournament. Most recently, the Wasilla High School team was one run away from rounding out an all-Valley contingency, along with Colony High, at the ASAA/First National Bank State Baseball Championships.

Players from a historically strong Colony program — as well as Wasilla, and improving Houston and Palmer squads — come together to play for the Road Warriors this summer and pump first-year head coach Myrl Thompson’s roster full of talent. Thompson, a former WHS skipper, aims to continue that success with a state championship this year, and he’s not shy about setting high goals going into the season.

“I think we’re going to be one of the premier teams in the state this year,” Thompson said.

The Road Warriors will be the summer baseball home for first team all-Southcentral Conference performers Jacob Butcher of Colony, Josh Grissom of Wasilla and Russ Ruta of Houston. Colony’s Zane Mileur was named to the all-tournament team at last weekend’s state tournament.

“I think we’re every bit as well-rounded as we were last year, and we might have a stronger pitching staff,” Thompson said.

The strength of the Post 35 program overall has also grown. The A squad has a record of 73-14 over the last three years. Thompson is excited about players coming up to the AA team. Colony junior Morgan McJimsey will add depth to the infield, and Wasilla junior Bryce Borngraeber will add his high strikeout totals to the pitching staff.

“We have some good bats,” Thompson said. “We can throw nine kids who can really hit the ball, and we’ve picked up some speed, too.”

Thompson said that in his first year head coach for the Legion program, he hopes to use that speed to bring back an old-school style of bunting and small ball to the team.

That speed will also cover the newly redone McManus Field outfield. Former Wasilla standout David Newman returns to start in the Road Warrior outfield for the fourth year. Butcher and Mileur will also attempt to hawk balls sent in the air as part of the Post 35 defense.

“I think the mental aspect of the game is something that has been lost over the years,” the coach said. “Nobody bunts anymore, either. Bunting is kind of a lost art.”

He also said team chemistry will be key, especially early.

“They haven’t played together,” Thompson said. “We didn’t even have our team finalized until yesterday, first practice was today and our first game is tomorrow. It’s the first time a lot of these kids played together, but Anchorage High School and Legion teams that are basically the same kids have chemistry going on for months, counting practices.”

The Road Warriors made their 2010 championship run behind the strength of the pitching staff. Last year, the Road Warriors lost ace Dusty Wisdom to a season-ending elbow injury. Thompson said he will use a variety of pitchers, but wants to keep pitch counts down early to avoid injury.

Colony’s right-handers will return to the mound for Thompson. Borngraeber will bring his electric stuff to the pitching staff, as well as the hard-throwing Grissom, when he is not catching. Ruta will see time on the mound after being primarily used as an infielder in 2011.

Thompson hopes to turn his team into a championship contender right away, facing Anchorage teams fresh off impressive high school campaigns.

“You make a mistake or two against those guys and that could be the game. You could be up three runs in the last inning and lose. Dimond is always tough,” he said..

Dimond eliminated the Road Warriors from the state tournament each of the last two years.

“South is going to have an excellent team, Service is really impressive,” he added. “I watched them play last weekend and they both hit fastballs real well.”

The Road Warriors beat Service, one of the dubbed ‘Fab Four’ at the American Legion state tournament last summer to grab fourth place.

The Warriors open their season tonight at 6 p.m. against West Anchorage McManus Field in Wasilla.

Contact Tim Rockey at 352-2252 or tim.rockey@frontiersman.com. Follow @trockeynews on Twitter.