Road Warriors stay alive

ANCHORAGE — Heading into the state tournament, a story on the Alaska American Legion website touted the tourney’s “Fab Four” — Dimond, Fairbanks, Service and South Anchorage.

On Monday, the Alaska Road Warriors knocked off one of the Fab Four and are one win away from becoming part of the tourney’s final four. The Wasilla-based team scored four times in the fifth inning to post a 7-4 come-from-behind win over Service at Mulcahy Stadium in Anchorage.

“It’s like we’re the chopped liver on the buffet,” Road Warriors head coach Myrl Thompson joked after the win.

But the fifth-seeded Warriors proved they could be primed for another deep run into the tourney, knocking off third-seeded Service with the win. The Wasilla squad finished second in the tourney last year.

“They were not going to let this be the last game,” Thompson said of his squad. “They were going to scratch it out.”

The Road Warriors opened tourney play with a first-round loss to South Anchorage. But since, Alaska has put together wins over Bartlett, Chugiak and now Service.

The Cougars, took a 3-1 lead in the top of the fifth, but the Warriors used four runs in the bottom of the inning to tie the score. Brody Coleman, Taylor Palmer and David Newman collected consecutive hits to load the bases, and Jonathon Boyer singled into right field to drive in two runs.

The Boyer RBIs tied the score at 3, and the Road Warriors took their first lead of the game when Newman scored on Service wild pitch. Tim Rockey used an RBI single to give Alaska the 5-3 lead.

The four-run fifth was big for the Road Warriors, but Thompson said the play of the day came in the fourth inning.

Damon Hammer led off the fourth with a solo home run. The shot over left field put the Warriors on the scoreboard and sparked the squad.

“It got everybody’s spirits up,” Thompson said. “We came out in the next inning full of life and scored some runs.”

Boyer and Taylor Palmer each collected a team-best two hits in the game. Boyer led the squad with two RBI. Coleman, Hammer and Rockey also drove in runs.

Boyer also earned the win on the mound for the Wasilla club. The Colony High product allowed five hits and two earned runs. He fanned one and walked two.

Isaac Courson pitched the final two innings to earn the save.

Newman and Courson combined for a two-hit shutout during a 1-0 win over Chugiak on Sunday morning.

Newman pitched seven innings against the Mustangs, allowing only two hits while fanned five.

“That was a gem,” Thompson said. “Newman hasn’t pitched a lot for us, but he’s always been ready.”

Courson retired six of the final seven batters to record the save. He didn’t allow a hit, but did hit one batter with a pitch.

The game was tied until the bottom of the sixth inning. Newman led off the inning with a walk and later scored on a Hammer single.

The Road Warriors will now play either Dimond or Kenai in the fourth round of the loser’s bracket. Dimond entered the tourney as the top seed, but was upset by South on Monday.

Dimond and Kenai are slated to play today. The winner of that match will play the Road Warriors Wednesday at 10 a.m. at Mulcahy.