Seniors lead Warriors into state softball tourney

WASILLA — When Tyler Gilligan took over as head coach of the Wasilla High School softball team prior to the 2014 season, there was a group of sophomores that grabbed his attention.

Those sophomores are now seniors.

As juniors, they helped Wasilla win its first Railbelt Conference title in school history and place fourth in the state tournament. As seniors, they helped the Warriors repeat as conference champions. This weekend those seniors will have a chance to help Wasilla make school history again during the ASAA/First National Bank State Softball Championships, which begin Friday in Fairbanks.

“The six seniors really built this program,” Gilligan said recently of his super six pack of seniors: Katherine Johnson, Alyssa Simmons, Shelby Wallis, Haley Jenkins, Deborah Polk and Hannah Zwolinski.

Gilligan said his seniors regularly took their preparation beyond the bounds of a typical practice schedule. Whether it was arriving early in the morning to take fly balls or taking extra batting practice on an off day, Gilligan said his players were eager to put the work in.

“They’ve really dedicated themselves to the program and each other,” Gilligan said. “I could not have done it with out them. When I took over, they were gung ho about making Wasilla a powerhouse. They’ve done an exceptional job of leading the younger players and pushing everyone to get better.”

With a group of leaders like that, Gilligan said the Warriors have the confidence to face anyone in the field. Wasilla, one of two teams with first-round byes in the large schools bracket, will open its tournament against the winner of the East Anchorage-Chugiak first-round matchup Friday at 2:30 p.m. at the South Davis Complex in Fairbanks.

Wasilla is the No. 1 seed from the Railbelt. East and Chugiak are the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds from the Cook Inlet Conference.

East is the three-time defending state champions, a team that had a 93-game winning streak until suffering a 3-2 loss to Dimond in early May.

Looking at what his team had done this season gives Gilligan confidence. The Warriors split with Chugiak, and beat the Dimond squad that upset East. The Warriors did have a rough game in its lone match with East, but Wasilla was missing its top two pitchers, and needed to put a junior varsity arm on the mound.

“It really could be anybody’s tournament this year,” Gilligan said. “Regardless of who were are playing, we’re going to give them everything we’ve got to get to that final game.”

With a win on Friday, Wasilla would move into the bracket’s semifinal round, slated for Saturday morning. With a loss, Wasilla would drop into the loser’s bracket of the double-elimination tournament.

The Warriors, T-Birds and Mustangs make up the top side of the bracket. South Anchorage is the No. 1 seed from the CIC, and also gets a first-round bye. The Wolverines will face either Railbelt runner-up West Valley or West Anchorage, the No. 4 seed from the CIC, Friday at 2:30 p.m.

Valley players named All-Railbelt

Seven Valley softball players were named All-Railbelt.

Wasilla landed three players on the list, with Alyssa Simmons, Shelby Wallis and Katherine Johnson each earning nods. Tesa Finley and Danyel Finley represented Colony on the list. Holly Corbin and Alexis Barfield were both named all-conference for Palmer.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.