Warriors battle in Anchorage

ANCHORAGE — The Wasilla Road Warriors took some relief in their time without baseball last week. The American Legion squad spent time together as a team on the Kenai Peninsula fishing for red salmon and then returned to Anchorage on Friday night to secure a victory over the Ketchikan Kings in a non-league matchup at Bartlett High School.

“We canceled practice and said whoever wants to go fishing lets go fishing and just enjoy being around each other and had an absolute blast,” said head coach Ken Ottinger. “We need to get away from the constant it’s got to all be about winning and we need to have some fun especially with all the stress these kids have gone through.”

The Warriors exploded in the fifth inning for eight runs to push the lead to 11 before Ketchikan tallied their fourth run in the bottom of the fifth inning. The game was called after five innings due to the mercy rule.

Centerfielder Will Plowman tripled and made a spectacular play deep up against the fence for the final out of the game. Jacob Hansen knocked two base hits and drove in three runs. Nolan Murphy doubled, tripled, scored twice and drove in four runs. Ty Dudley had two hits, two runs and a run batted in and catcher Pedro Comacho had two runs and two RBI.

“Plowman tracking that ball down in center that was such a good play and he’s been lights out this year at the plate. Just seeing the kids approach at the plate was a lot better. We played good baseball. We’re cleaning some things up, a little less walks, little less errors and I think we’ve got a good club,” said Ottinger.

While Friday’s non-league game against the Kings was a more relaxed affair, over the weekend, the Warriors faced a pair of tough Anchorage opponents in league matchups. Wasilla fell to Dimond by a 7-5 score on Saturday and lost to Service 13-3 on Sunday. The Warriors now have a league record of 2-5 with 13 points in the national division.