Warriors finish 3rd in state tourney

ANCHORAGE — Although disappointed, the Wasilla Warriors left Mulcahy Stadium with a purpose following their 3-0 loss to Sitka Friday night in the state semifinals.

The goal?

End the season with a victory.

And that’s exactly what the Warriors were able to do.

Austin Robertson pitched a two-hit shutout and Ben Werner drove in a pair of runs to lead Wasilla to a 5-0 win over Lathrop in the ASAA/First National Bank State Baseball Championships third-place game Saturday afternoon in Anchorage.

“It’s pretty good honor to say you’re the third-best in state,” Wasilla head coach Ken Ottinger said.

The Warriors were also able to improve from their fourth-place finish last year.

“Three’s better than four,” Ottinger said.

It’s the third time in school history Wasilla finished among the top three teams in the state. The Warriors were the state runner-up in 2001 and also finished third in 2014.

Robertson was stellar on the mound for the Warriors, allowing only a Chase Reed single in the third and Colin King single in the sixth.

Wasilla took the lead with a four-run third inning. Balas Buckmaster drew a lead-off walk and scored on a Werner RBI single to give the Warriors a 1-0 lead. After a Cyrus Lovell walk, James Arend drove in Werner with a single to give the Warriors the 2-0 advantage. Hank Boyer and Caden Dudley followed with run-scoring singles, and Lovell and Arend each scored to extend Wasilla’s lead to 4-0.

Buckmaster doubled and scored on a Werner double in the sixth to push it to 5-0.

Warriors fall in semis

Sitka pushed its first three hitters of the game across the plate and held on for a 3-0 win over Wasilla during the state semifinals Friday at Mulcahy Stadium in Anchorage.

“The first inning we played a little tight and the bounces didn’t go our way. And the calls didn’t go our way, but that’s just baseball,” Wasilla head coach Ottinger said after the loss.

Sitka’s first-inning success overshadowed the tenacious work of Wasilla senior Hank Boyer on the mound. After allowing the three early runs, the Warriors ace struck out the final two hitters of the first, and faced five or fewer hitters in every inning after that. Boyer was one pitch short of a complete game. He hit ASAA’s limit of 120 pitches with two strikes and two outs in the top of the seventh inning.

After Boyer’s 120th pitch was called a debatable ball, Ottinger made his way out to the mound.

“It was nice to go out there and tell him thank you,” Ottinger said of Boyer, who led the Warriors to their fourth straight conference title this year and was named the Southcentral Conference North Division Player of the Year.

Reliever Balas Buckmaster needed only one pitch to end the top of the seventh.

Boyer scattered four hits in 6 2/3 innings, walked four and struck out five. Two of the hits — an infield single and a single to shallow center field — came in the first inning.

“I can’t ask for anything more from that kid. I’m going to miss him,” Ottinger said. “I’ve been with him since he was in the fifth, sixth grade. Every time he’s given me everything he’s got. I’m proud of him.”

Ottinger said he wanted to see Boyer and his fellow seniors cap their careers in the title game.

“That young man deserves a championship,” Ottinger said.

In the top of the first, Sitka’s Caleb Suarez drew a lead-off walk, and later scored on a fielder’s choice that led to a play at the plate to give the Wolves the 1-0 lead. Bryce Kelly, Sitka’s No. 2 hitter, dropped a bloop into short centerfield and scored on Ky Stockel’s infield single. Dayton Cropper reached on the fielder’s choice that scored Suarez, and scored on a ground out to give Sitka the 3-0 lead.

Boyer finished with both of Wasilla’s hits in the game, a pair of singles. The Warriors had several long flyouts in the loss, including a shot by Cyrus Lovell that was caught at the right field wall in the bottom of the seventh.

“That’s how baseball is,” Ottinger said. “We were hoping to get to the championship and let things fall were they would. We just came up short.”

Warriors open tourney with win

Hitters can feel an added pressure with two outs in an inning. But that has not been the case for the Wasilla Warriors. Lately, that’s when the Warriors have been at their best.

Wasilla scored eight runs with two outs in the top of the fourth, and posted a 10-0 win over West Valley during the state quarterfinals Thursday in Anchorage.

“I don’t know how many runs we’ve had in the last four games with two outs,” Wasilla head coach Ken Ottinger said after the win. “It’s always next man out, try not to be the last out, keep pushing.”

Four straight Warriors had a hit with two outs, and six straight reached during the inning.

“They never tensed up,” Ottinger said.

It’s the second straight game Ottinger has seen this from his club. During the Southcentral Conference Championships title game last Friday at Hermon Brothers Field in Palmer, Wasilla scored eight runs in the fifth with two outs during a 15-5 win over Colony.

“Anything can happen with these guys with two outs,” Ottinger said.

Thursday in the fourth, with two outs, the bases loaded, and Balas Buckmaster at the plate, Wasilla’s Jimmy Arend scored on a wild West Valley pitch to give the Warriors the 1-0 lead. Buckmaster promptly placed a double in centerfield to clear the bases and push Wasilla’s lead to 3-0. Kyle Graham, Ben Werner and Cyrus Lovell followed with back-to-back-to-back singles. After Arend — back at the plate for the second time in the inning — drew a walk, Hank Boyer singled to centerfield. Buckmaster, Lovell and Boyer drove in two runs each in the inning. Graham also had an RBI.

The Warriors batted around. Arend reached base twice in the fourth and scored both times.

Buckmaster led the Warriors with two doubles, two runs and two RBI in the win.

“B.B. stepped up once again. He’s been hot all year,” Ottinger said.

Werner also had two hits and two RBI.

Jacob Gilbert and three relievers combined for a four-hit shutout. Gilbert fanned four and walked only one in 3 1/3 of work. Austin Robertson allowed a hit and struck out three in 1 1/3. Werner and Lovell combined to throw 2 1/3 without allowing a hit.

Ottinger said the Warriors had a strategy with their pitching, wanting to keep pitch counts low.

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