Road Warriors to play in Todd Ryan title game

July 1, 2007

By MATT TUNSETH/ Frontiersman

WASILLA - Alaska played its way into the Todd Ryan Memorial Tournament's championship game with a 6-5 win Saturday morning over West at McManus Field in Wasilla.

Chris Breck pitched a complete game to pick up the win for the Road Warriors. Breck settled down after giving up four first-inning runs, allowing just one West score the rest of the way.

Alaska fell behind 4-3 after one inning, but tied things up in the bottom of the third on a West error. The Road Warriors took the lead for good in the bottom of the sixth when Wes Smith hit an RBI double to score Casey Smith for the game-winner.

Mike Dupuis and Kody Ziter each went 2-for-4 with a run scored, while Corey Cowgill finished 2-for-3 for Alaska, which banged out nine hits on the game.

The Road Warriors weren't as fortunate in the nightcap, allowing 15 Excelsior (Minn.) hits in an 11-1 loss Saturday evening. Six of Excelsior's hits were for extra bases, including three triples and three doubles.

&#8220It was like a track team out there,” Alaska coach Steve Mossburgh said following the loss, which dropped his team to 8-7 overall this season.

Despite the loss, Alaska still made the championship game with a 2-1 record in the round-robin tournament and will face Excelsior again today at 4 p.m. The Minnesota team finished the preliminary rounds of the tournament 3-0 with wins over Service, West and Alaska.

Cowgill was the lone bright spot for Alaska Saturday night, scoring the team's only run and going 3-for-3 with a triple, double and single. Wes Smith also had a base hit for the Road Warriors.

While the Alaska got complete games from its starting pitchers in the opening two games of the tournament, that wasn't the case Saturday night. Starter Matt Packa lasted just three innings, giving up seven runs, while reliever Ben Briceland allowed four runs in his four innings of work.

&#8220We've got to get our pitchers to get the ball down,” Mossburgh said.

The Alaska coach said his team will need to play better in order to hand Excelsior its first loss of the tournament today.

&#8220We'll have to play a very good game,” he said. &#8220We just have to work on the little things.”

ALASKA 8, SERVICE 1 (Friday)

WASILLA - Cole Smith pitched a seven-hit complete game to help the Alaska Road Warriors pick up an 8-1 win over Service in the opening game of the 2007 Todd Ryan Memorial Tournament at McManus Field in Wasilla.

The Palmer High lefty worked quickly, striking out four while walking one in the seven-inning game, which lasted just under two hours.

Following the game, Smith said it was important to get ahead in the count early against the Service lineup.

&#8220That was the mentality,” he said.

While Smith was getting ahead early in counts, his Road Warrior teammates were busy getting ahead early in the game. Alaska picked up five runs in the second inning on the strength of back-to-back 2

RBI doubles by right fielder Corey Cowgill and center fielder Rob Fitch, then scored twice more in the third to take a 7-0 lead.

Fitch led Alaska by going 3-for-4 at the plate with 4 RBI, including a two-run triple in the third. Cowgill, shortstop Josh Boring, catcher Wes Smith and Cole Smith each had two hits for the Road Warriors, which improved to 7-6 on the season with the victory.

The tournament's opening game was played under sunny skies with temperatures in the low-70s, something Cole Smith said helped him as the game wore on.

&#8220When it's nice and warm, your arm feels good,” he said. &#8220It just goes a lot farther.”

Smith said the fact that Alaska was hitting the ball well also helped him on the mound.

&#8220It gives you more confidence when the team's playing offense,” he said.

He also credited his defense for making the plays it needed to help him be effective.

&#8220Our defense played good, so I could let them hit the ball and knew we'd field it,” he said.

Contact Matt Tunseth at 352-2265 or matt.tunseth@frontiersman.com

Todd Ryan Memorial Tournament

Friday

Excelsior (Minn.) 2, West 1

Alaska 8, Service 1

Saturday

Alaska 6, West 5

West 4, Service 3

Excelsior 12, Service 8

Excelsior 11, Alaska 1

Today's games

Service vs. West, 1 p.m.

Alaska vs. Excelsior, 4 p.m.