Warriors blank Hawks

PALMER -- The Wasilla Warriors are the youth of the local prep softball nation.

With a team stocked full of freshman and sophomores, Wasilla experienced some growing pains early in the season. The Warriors have also showed progress and promise.

Wasilla may have just received a little hint of the future as they routed Houston 8-0 at the Sherrod softball complex in Palmer on Wednesday.

Lindsey Wesser led the Warriors with stellar performances on the mound and at the plate. Wesser, the Warrior starter, allowed just two hits, a pair of infield singles, in five innings of work. Wesser struck out 10 Houston hitters, including five of the first six and seven of the first nine batters. Houston did not have a baserunner until the bottom of the third inning.

Wesser registered a double in the third inning and a run scoring single in the fifth.

Fellow Warrior sophomore Carlie Douglas crossed home plate four times for Wasilla. Douglas reached base via hit, walk and error.

Chelsea Sandoval, the lone junior on the team and the senior member of a squad with no seniors, drove in two runs, scored twice and reached base on error twice. Sandoval notched an RBI double in the fifth inning.

First-year Wasilla head coach Sam Korsmo has been guiding the young Warrior team through the learning process.

"My goal is not so much to win, but ensuring every player knows their position and knows how to rely on one another," Korsmo said. "That takes time."

The Warriors have suffered losses to Colony, Homer and Palmer and split a double-header with Seward prior to their match with Houston.

Wasilla lost by just four runs to Homer, two runs to Seward and one run to Palmer.