Valley baseball bests Bucs

May 17, 2007

By MATT TUNSETH

Frontiersman

WASILLA - Wasilla relief pitcher Ben Briceland pitched three shutout innings and the Warriors scored six runs in the sixth inning to turn a close game into a rout Friday against Valdez in Wasilla.

&#8220Ben did an excellent job for us,” Wasilla coach Gene Sandone said following the game.

It was Briceland's first appearance of the season. The senior has spent much of the spring with the Wasilla track and field team but was availible Friday because the track team had the week off.

&#8220He'll be a real boost for us,” Sandone said.

Briceland came on in the fifth to releive starter Mike Shaw, who left with the Warriors up 7-6. Shaw was shaky early, allowing four runs through the first two innings before settle down. He finished with six strikeouts while allowing just five hits.

Shaw also did plenty of damage at the plate, going 2-for-4 with three RBI.

Valdez took the 1-0 lead in the first, but Wasilla quickly struck back with three runs in the bottom half of the inning on the strength of shortstop Carl Brent's two-run double.

The Buccanneers then went back in front with a three-run second, but Wasilla again fought back, getting a two-run single from Shaw to go up 5-4.

Sawyer Graber scored from first base on Chris Bydlon's double in the third to make things 6-4, but two unearned Valdez runs in the fourth again had the teams deadlocked.

Eric Washington's RBI single in the bottom of the inning scored first baseman Corey Cowgill to give Wasilla the lead for good. The Warriors added a run in the fifth, then opened the flood gates in the sixth to secure the final margin of victory.

Shaw, Graber, Bydlon and second baseman Danny Lyles each had two hits for Wasilla.

Palmer 15, Valdez 5

Palmer head coach David Combs has been struggling to get his squad in the right frame of mind all season. On Saturday, the Moose finally came around to pick up their first win of the season, a 15-5 thumping of Valdez in Palmer.

&#8220We came out and jumped all over them when they gave us the opportunities,” Combs said following the game.

Palmer scored 10 runs in the first inning, and pitcher Tyson Alger struck out nine hitters in just five innings of work to pick up the victory.

&#8220Tyson Alger pitched a great game today,” Combs said.

Combs was particularly impressed with his team's all-around effort. Alger also helped his own cause with three hits, a run scored and an RBI.

Eight different players scored for the Moose, who finished the game with 13 base hits.

The game was a relief for Combs, whose team was coming off a 14-4 loss at the hands of Wasilla on Thursday.

&#8220It was definitely a better result,” he said.

Third baseman Micahel Dotson hit his second home run of the season for Palmer, which got production up and down the lineup. Dotson, Cole Smith and Alex Roy each had two RBI, Casey Smith scored three times, Tanner Grover went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI and Keith Christopher scored twice and added an RBI.

&#8220Everyone was making contact,” Combs said.

Next up for the Moose are the Colony Knights on Wednesday.

Kodiak 10, Colony 8

A six-run Kodiak fourth helped the Bears to a 10-8 victory over Colony Friday in

Kodiak.

Colony took a 5-0 lead in the second and were ahead 6-1 going into the bottom of the fouth. But umpires called Colony pitchers for four balks, including two that plated runs for the Bears.

Colony coach Jamie Mayo was ejected from the game after arguing the fourth balk call, which allowed the Bears to score the go-ahead run.

Rohery Fitch was the offensive star for the Knights in the loss, picking up a home run and four RBI.

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

frontiersman.com

WASILLA14, VALDEZ 6

Friday at Wasilla

VALDEZ

name ab r h bi

Caples cf 4 2 2 0

Koszarek 2b 3 3 1 0

Goudreau 1b 3 1 1 1

Wilson ss 3 0 1 2

Pogues c 2 0 0 0

Rogers lf 2 0 1 1

Tucker 3b 4 0 0 0

Wells rf 3 0 0 0

McLain dh 3 0 0 0

Rhodes p 0 0 0 0

Totals 27 6 6 4

WASILLA

Name ab r h bi

McLellan 3b 4 0 1 1

Shaw 1b 4 0 2 3

Cowgill 1b, ss 5 2 1 0

Brent ss 2 1 1 1

Washington lf 2 2 1 1

Graber cf 3 2 2 2

Bydlon c 3 1 2 2

Lyles 2b 2 3 2 1

Ostrom rf 1 1 0 0

Briceland 1b, p 1 1 1 0

Rodamer rf 0 1 0 2

Wisdom 1b 0 0 0 0

Newcomb pr 0 0 0 0

Totals 27 14 13 13

VALDEZ 130 200 0 - 6

WASILLA 321 116 X - 14

E - Valdez 3, Wasilla 3. LOB - Valdez 8, Wasilla 7. 2B - Brent, Graber, Bydlon, Caples, Wilson. SB - Caples 2, Koszarek 2, Wells, Lyles, Ostrom, Cowgill.

VALDEZ IP H R ER BB SO

Rhodes L 4.2 9 8 5 5 2

Wilson 1.1 4 6 4 2 0

WASILLA

Shaw W 4 5 6 3 5 6

Briceland 3 1 0 0 1 3

WP - Wilson. PB - Pogues.

PALMER 15, VALDEZ 5

Saturday at Palmer

PALMER

name ab r h bi

Grover ss 4 2 3 1

Ca.Smith 2b 2 3 0 0

Christphr c 1b 3 2 1 1

Dotson 3b 4 2 2 2

Lite lf 4 0 0 0

Co.Smith 1b 4 2 2 2

Alger p 4 1 3 1

Roy rf 3 2 2 2

Ratcliff cf dh 3 1 0 0

Totals 32 15 13 9

VALDEZ 003 10 - 5

PALMER 1011 03 - 15

KODIAK 10, COLONY 8

Friday at Kodiak

COLONY 050 102 0 - 8 10 1

KODIAK 001 630 x - 10 8 1

Breck, Couraty (4), Peterson (5) and Smith; Pruitt, Diocares (3), McFarland (7) and Cratty.

RBI: Colony - Boring, Smith 2, Fitch 4, Couraty. Kodiak - Cratty 2, Olsen, McFarland, Cooper, Diocares. Three hits: Colony - Fitch. Two hits: Colony - Smith, Ziter. Kodiak - Cratty, Olsen. Home run: Colony - Fitch. Kodiak - McFarland. Doubles: Colony - Smith. Kodiak - Cratty 2.

Winning pitcher - Diocares (One strike out, two walks). Losing pitcher - Breck (two strikeouts, three walks).