Road Warriors score walk-off win over Pioneers

WASILLA — Early in the week, the Wasilla Road Warriors were preparing for the Alaska Legion Baseball state tournament. After a ruling by the Alaska Legion on Tuesday, the Warriors were left off the state tourney bracket and added to the Matson Invitational field.

The disappointment didn’t deter the Road Warriors.

After cruising to a victory in the first round, Wasilla scored a walk off win over a Valley rival Saturday.

Clayton Boyett scored on a Palmer error in the bottom of the seventh, and the Road Warriors beat the Pioneers 2-1 during the second day of the Matson at Bartlett High School in Anchorage.

This all comes days after the Road Warriors learned they would not be part of the eight teams in state, despite finishing third in their division, because program officials missed the deadline to pay for required team insurance, Wasilla head coach Ken Ottinger said his team is going to look at the Matson as its state tournament.

“We’re going to go play baseball,” Ottinger said earlier in the week. “The biggest thing is, we learn from this. It’s how life goes on sometimes. We need to act classy, hold our chins up.”

Ottinger said his players took the news hard, but he praised them for how they are dealing with the situation.

“They’re such a great group of kids,” Ottinger said. “They’re keeping me calm. This hurt them, but we can’t do anything about it. All we can do is play baseball and have fun as a team.”

Wasilla, Palmer and Ketchikan were all ruled ineligible for sanctioned postseason play for failure to perchance insurance by the May 31 deadline, but Wasilla was the lone team of the three to finish among the top eight squads in the state. The Matson includes seven other teams that did not qualify for the state tourney, and this year, Wasilla. Kodiak was given Wasilla’s spot in the state tourney.

Boyett sparked a two-out rally in the bottom of the seventh. Boyett singled, stole second base and scored on the error. Wasilla led 1-0, but the Pioneers tied the game in the sixth with a Zach Satterly home run. Kendell Ruta singled and scored on a James Arend single in the fourth to give the Warriors their first lead.

Balau Buckmaster earned the win on the mound, pitching a complete game. He allowed four hits and one earned run, and fanned seven. Trace Severson allowed six hits and one earned run over 6 2/3 innings in the loss for the Pioneers.

Wasilla’s win over Palmer followed a 10-2 victory over Bartlett on Friday.

Dawson White scored twice and was one of nine Road Warriors to cross the plate during the win. Taylon Ottinger led Wasilla with a pair of RBI. Wasilla was the top seed in the bracket.

The Pioneers edged Fairbanks 3-1 earlier in the day.

With the teams tied at 1 in the fifth, Palmer’s James Nelson scored on a Fairbanks error to give Palmer the 2-1 lead. Satterly also scored on the error to push the lead to a pair of runs.

Kolten Ketchum pitched a complete game for the Pioneers in the win. He scattered seven hits over seven. The lone Fairbanks run came unearned in the first inning. Satterly finished with two of Palmer’s three hits in the win.

Wasilla moves forward in the bracket and faces Eagle River Sunday at 6 p.m. at Bartlett. Palmer plays Ketchikan at noon.

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