Road Warriors silence 49ers

WASILLA — Armed with a pair of right-handers, the Alaska Road Warriors gunned down one of the top teams in the state Sunday not once, but twice.

Bryce Borngraeber and Jacob Butcher each pitched complete games to lead the Valley-based American Legion squad to victories during a doubleheader sweep of the Fairbanks 49ers Sunday at McManus Field in Wasilla.

“They’re actually a very good team,” Road Warriors head coach Myrl Thompson said of the 49ers, who hit Wasilla with a 10-1 mark Sunday morning. “They threw good pitchers against us. We just had really good pitching, really good defense and enough bats to win.”

Borngraeber tossed a seven-inning complete game three-hitter in the first leg of the doubleheader, leading the Warriors to an 11-1 win over Fairbanks. The Wasilla High product fanned six in the win.

“He stayed ahead of a lot of the batters,” Thompson said. “He didn’t throw a heck of a lot of pitches. He kept them off balance.”

Four different Warriors — Morgan McJimsey, Mitchell Chauvin, Russ Ruta and Josh Grissom — finished with two runs each. Damon Hammer led the team at the plate, finishing 3 for 4. McJimsey was 2 for 3 in Game 1.

“We hit pretty well clear through the lineup,” Thompson said.

Butcher threw a complete-game shutout in the following contest, leading his squad to a 3-0 win over the 49ers.

“Butcher pitched a gem,” Thompson said.

The Colony High incoming senior allowed only two hits and struck out five.

“He got ahead in all of the counts,” Thompson said. “He was pretty dominant.”

Butcher averaged only 11 pitches per inning in the win.

Butcher was able to outmatch Fairbanks starter Tim Ballard in the pitcher’s duel. Ballard allowed only seven Alaska hits. Hamer was 1 for 3 with a run, and Grissom finished 1 for 4 with a run.

Alaska improved to 11-4 overall and 10-4 in league play with the wins. The Road Warriors sit in second place, a game shy of first-place South Anchorage (11-4). Fairbanks sits in third place.

The Road Warriors now take their 11-4 mark into the annual Todd Ryan Memorial, which starts Thursday at McManus Field in Wasilla. The impressive field includes features Service, Chugiak, Fairbanks, the host Road Warriors and a pair of teams from outside Alaska. Teams from Strongsville, Ohio, and Castroville, Texas, will also compete in the four-day tourney, which runs through Sunday.

“It’s definitely a good field,” Thompson said.

The Strongsville Dirtbags, a team from the Cleveland area, were the Northeast Ohio District champions in 2011, and have won three district titles since the team’s inception in 2008.

Tourney play begins Thursday with the Road Warriors hosting Service at 4 p.m. Fairbanks follows against Chugiak at 7 p.m.

The Road Warriors meet Strongsville Friday at 10 a.m. The Dirtbags will also play Service at 1 p.m. Castroville meets Chugiak at 4 p.m. and Fairbanks at 7 p.m. Friday.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com, follow him at twitter.com/matsu_sports and find him by searching Valley Sports Huddle on Facebook.