Warriors, Knights start state tourney Thursday

WASILLA — Extra-innings and a rally to a mercy-rule win. That was all part of Wasilla’s journey to the state baseball tournament.

The Warriors edged Soldotna 3-2 in extra innings in the semifinals and scored 14 unanswered runs during a 15-5 come-from-behind mercy rule over Colony in the title game during the Southcentral Conference Championships baseball tournament.

“(Thursday) night helped out a lot,” Wasilla head coach Ken Ottinger said of the victory over SoHi as the Warriors celebrated their fourth straight region title following the win over Colony. “We were feeling the pressure. That’s what we need going into state. We need a close ball game to understand there’s a lot of baseball yet to play, and anything can happen.”

Wasilla begins state tournament against Mid-Alaska Conference runner-up West Valley Thursday at 4 p.m. during the first round of the ASAA/First National Bank State Baseball Championships at Mulcahy Stadium in Anchorage.

Throughout the year, Ottinger said Wasilla’s goal is straightforward.

“Get back to state and avenge the 11-1 loss last year,” Ottinger said early in the year.

That 11-1 loss came to Ketchikan in the first round of the 2016 state tournament.

Colony also punched its state tournament ticket, using a 6-5 extra-inning victory over Soldotna during the final day of the Southcentral tournament to keep its season alive. The Knights face MAC champion Lathrop in the quarterfinals, Thursday at 10 a.m. at Mulcahy.

Colony head coach Chadwell said the Knights don’t know much about the Malemutes, but are spending their time focused on what they need to do.

“Right now we’re just concentrating on fixing our mistakes,” Chadwell said. “All we can do is play our best brand of baseball come gametime.”

Wasilla and West Valley share the top side of the bracket with Southeast Conference champion Sitka and Cook Inlet Conference runner-up Service. The Wolves meet the Cougars Thursday at 1 p.m. in the quarters. In addition to Colony and Lathrop, the bottom side also has CIC champion South Anchorage and Southeast runner-up Juneau-Douglas. The Wolverines and the Bears play Thursday at 7 p.m.

In the semifinals, the Sitka-Service winner plays the Wasilla-West Valley winner Friday at 4 p.m. The South-Juneau winner meets the Lathrop-Colony winner Friday at 7 in the other semifinal.

The championship game is scheduled for Saturday at 3 p.m.

Wasilla finished 9-0 in conference play during the regular season. The Warriors opened the region tourney with a 10-0 victory over Kodiak, before beating Soldotna in the semifinals and Colony in the championship game. The Knights, 4-6 in the conference during the regular season, beat Homer 12-11 in the conference quarterfinals and Palmer 10-2 in the semis. Colony bounced back from the 15-5 loss to Wasilla in the title game, and beat Soldotna 6-5 to get the conference’s second berth to state.

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