Veteran presence: Former Colony High standout emerges as a team leader for the Road Warriors

WASILLA — As Wasilla headed into the bottom of the final inning, moments after Chugiak tied the score at 4, during a recent American Legion baseball game, panic began to spread among the young Road Warriors squad.

As the Road Warriors jogged to the dugout, set to hit in the bottom of the seventh, veteran Matt Palmer calmed his teammates down. Palmer’s presence helped the Road Warriors get the final run, and score the 5-4 walkoff win over the Mustangs.

It’s an example of the leadership Palmer has provided Wasilla this season, and a reason why the Road Warriors are in contention for a top-4 seed in the upcoming state tournament. Palmer is one of a pair of 2015 high school graduates playing in their final season of American Legion baseball eligibility. The former Colony High School standout and the 2015 Southcentral Conference Player of the Year is also fresh off his freshman season of college baseball at Blue Mountain Community College. He’s using his own experience, and has stepped up as the leader on a very young 2016 Road Warriors squad.

“A lot of these guys havn’t been in these situations before. I’ve seen pretty much everything you can see in high school baseball,” Palmer said. “We got into that last inning, we were tied. We score one run, we win. It’s not like we were down 10-3.”

Palmer said he’s embraced the leadership role during his final season of American Legion baseball.

“We have a really young team. I needed to step up,” Palmer said.

Palmer admitted he’s learned from his own experience to be the leader on this squad.

“I just really tried to grow up. I was kind of a head case my first few years. I wasn’t really a team player,” Palmer said. “I was trying to really improve that over the last three years.”

Wasilla head coach Ken Ottinger said Palmer has been an ideal leader for the Warriors this season.

“We’re a very, very young ball club. These young kids look up to him because he’s playing college baseball right now. That’s where they want to get to,” Ottinger said.

One of those young players is Ottinger’s son, Taylon.

“”My son’s one on this team right now. That’s who I want my son to look up to,” Ottinger said. “Matt’s hard working, a level headed kid. A team player. He’s huge for our team. That’s the kind of captain and influence I want on a team.”

Palmer has also been one of Wasilla’s most consistent players this season, both in the field and at the plate. An outfielder in college, Palmer made the transition back to shortstop and has anchored the infield. Palmer also hits in the middle of the order, and has worked as a run-producing machine for the Road Warriors.

“He’s very consistent at the plate. He jumped into the shortstop role,” Ottinger said.

Palmer, who started as shortstop as a senior at Colony, said it took some time to ease back into the position, after spending a year as a corner outfielder for Blue Mountain. Palmer said after high school, he didn’t take even one ground ball before returning to the Valley to play for the Road Warriors this summer.

“It was a little rough at first, but I’m getting back into it,” Palmer said.

Palmer saw action in only one game as a freshman, but did record his first career college RBI. Regardless, Palmer lauded the experience, and looks forward to an increased role as a sophomore. Palmer said he expects to play the corner outfield spots, and said the coaches say he has a shot at starting in left field.

“I didn’t get much playing time, but it was a good experience being there, seeing the next level,” Palmer said. “It’s a lot faster at the next level.”

Palmer also had the chance to play with a former Colony teammate at Blue Mountain. The 2016 Timberwolves squad also featured former Colony standout Ben Ross, a 2014 CHS grad who led Blue Mountain with a .363 batting average. He’s also the latest Valley product to be recruited by Blue Mountain head coach Brad Baker, a former pitching coach with the Mat-Su Miners.

Ross and fellow Colony High graduates Jonathon Boyer and Jacob Butcher played for Baker in Blue Mountain in 2015. Butcher and Josh Grissom, a Wasilla High graduate, played for Baker in 2014.

Palmer has been playing baseball since he was about 5 years old he said. As a sophomore in high school, Colony head coach Jordan Chadwell told Palmer he had a realistic chance at playing at the next level.

“He let me know to get in the weight room and get some meat on (my) bones. I got in the weight room and started to really focus on it, trying to pursue it,” Palmer said.

Palmer said it also helped seeing Valley athletes he played with and against have success at Blue Mountain.

“Especially competing on a similar level with them. I started to realize I can do it,” Palmer said.

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