Warriors dominate on the mound, move into region baseball final

WASILLA — The top-seeded Wasilla Warriors opened the conference baseball tournament with a pair of pitching performances that are going to be hard to top.

Hank Boyer and Jacob Gilbert combined to throw a no-hitter in a five-inning 17-0 semifinal win over Homer, the No. 2 seed from the Southern Division. That came after Austin Robertson used a one-hitter to help the Warriors edge fourth-seeded Kodiak 2-0 in the quarterfinals. Both victories came during the first day of the Southcentral Conference Baseball Championships Thursday in Kenai.

Boyer fanned three during his four innings of work against the Mariners. Gilbert pitched a perfect fifth to cement the victory over Homer. With the Homer bats silenced, the Warriors drilled the Mariners at the plate. Nolan Monaghan led Wasilla with three hits. Koby Burns and Cyrus Lovell were among the Warriors with two hits in the game. Monaghan and Jimmy Arend finished with a team-high three RBI each against Homer.

Wasilla scored 10 of its runs in the fourth inning. Every spot in the Wasilla order scored in the game.

In Wasilla’s tournament opener against Kodiak, Robertson pitched a seven-inning complete game for the top-seeded Warriors. He fanned six Bears.

Six different Warriors had one hit each for Wasilla.

“In the first game, we had some balls hit to people and the grass was knocking down other balls,” Wasilla coach Ken Ottinger told the Peninsula Clarion after the win over Homer. “The boys felt they needed to prove something after that last game.”

Wasilla will play Soldotna in the championship game, Friday at 7 p.m. in Kenai.

Knights advance to semis

Solid pitching and defense moved the Knights, the No. 2 seed from the Northern Division, past the Kardinals, No. 3 from the south.

Cooper McLaughlin went all seven innings for the win, giving up just two hits and two earned runs while walking four and striking out six.

“He’s been the guy for us all season,” Colony coach Jordan Chadwell told the Peninsula Clarion. “He came through for us today.”

Gavin Petterson also was solid on the mound for the Kards. He pitched six innings, giving up just three hits but six runs — one earned. He walked three, hit three and struck out four.

“We lose 6-2, but if we make some plays it would have been a lot closer,” Kenai coach John Kennedy said. “It’s hard to say if we would have won, but it wouldn’t have been 6-2.”

Kenai, the visitors, got off to a solid start when Paul Steffensen, who had both hits, singled to start the game and scored on a sacrifice fly by Petterson.

In the bottom of the second, Cooper Smith, who finished 2 for 3 with two runs and an RBI, singled and scored on a single by Zachary Satterly for a 1-all game.

One of the pivotal plays of the game came in the bottom of the third after Petterson had retired the first two batters.

Cole Doss bunted, and when Kenai’s infield was slow to rotate the second baseman to first base, Petterson threw wildly to first base and Doss made it to third.

Colony pounced for three runs and a 4-1 lead.

“Gavin is still young pitchingwise,” Kennedy said of the junior. “He lost his composure there for a bit, but he got it back and finished strong.”

Chadwell said his team’s ability to keep its composure at all times is what decided the game. McLaughlin is a senior, but he was joined on the field by four freshmen and four sophomores.

“We just tried to play as clean a game as possible,” Chadwell said. “That’s what we’ve been focusing on all season.”

Steffensen cut the lead to 4-2 by scoring on another sacrifice fly in the top of the sixth.

But in the bottom of the inning, Kolten Ketchum hit a liner with two outs and two on that center fielder Steven Norvelle couldn’t handle, leading to a 6-2 score.

With the win over Kenai, Colony advanced to the semifinals, but suffered a 10-7 loss to the Stars.

Soldotna scored five runs in the bottom of the fourth to rally to the win, and earn the right to face Wasilla in the conference final.

The Knights are still in the hunt for a state tournament berth. Colony meets the winner of the Houston-Kenai elimination game Friday at 3 p.m. in Kenai. The Knights will need three straight wins to get the to the state tournament. The conference’s second state tournament will be decided Saturday at 1 p.m. in Kenai.

Ketchum led Colony with three hits and two runs against SoHi. Trenton Walters also scored twice. Five different Knights drove in a run each.

Moose, Hawks fall

The Palmer Moose suffered a heartbreaking first-round loss to Homer early Thursday.

Kyle Johnson scored on an Adam Brinster single in the bottom of the 10th inning to give Homer a 5-4 victory over the Moose in the quarterfinals.

Palmer had scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning to tie the game at 4.

With the Moose trailing 4-1 in the seventh, Jarred Yanez led off the inning with a walk and scored on a Cody Grogan single. Later in the inning, Austin Reeder doubled to drive in Grogan. Damion Bailey scored on a Wyatt Shults RBI single to tie the game at 4.

Grogan finished 3 for 5 with a run and two RBI to lead the Moose. Shults and Aaron Christiansen added two hits each. Skyler Hale scored a run in the third inning for Palmer.

Michael Swoboda was 4 for 6 for the Mariners in the win. Brinster, Greg Smith and Landon Bunting had two hits each. Bunting, Brinster, Smith and Garrett Butcher scored runs.

In the other quarterfinal, Soldotna blanked Houston 10-0.

Kolby Taylor, Jayden Elson, Reed Graham and Kade Taylor finished with one hit each for the Hawks.

With the losses, Palmer moves back to play Kodiak and Houston faces Kenai. Both elimination games are Friday at 10 a.m. in Kenai.