Warriors own top seed in region baseball tourney

WASILLA — The Wasilla Warriors wrapped up an undefeated season in the Southcentral Conference Monday with a 9-0 win over Houston, and will open up region tournament play Thursday with as a top seed in the tournament.

The Warriors (10-0) are the No. 1 seed in North Division and will face fourth-seeded Kodiak Thursday at 10 a.m. in Kenai.

Colony, Palmer and Houston own seeds second, third and fourth in the North. Soldotna is the top seed from the South, followed by Homer, Kenai and Soldotna.

Undefeated Wasilla has been the power of the conference thus far, but there’s been some parity in the remainder of the conference.

“I think Wasilla is sticking out above the herd right now,” Colony head coach Jordan Chadwell said after a win over Houston last week. “A lot of teams are young. A lot of teams are going through growing pains. A lot of team, you get past the first pitcher and you have a really good chance of competing.”

Second-seeded Colony will compete against third-seeded Kenai Thursday at 1 p.m. in the first round. Other first-round matchups are third-seeded Palmer against second-seeded Homer Thursday at 10 a.m. and fourth-seeded Houston meeting Soldotna, the top seed from the South, Thursday at 1 p.m.

The tournament includes a double elimination format. Championship semifinals are set for Thursday at 4 and 7 p.m., with the winners moving into the conference’s first-place game, slated for Friday at 7.

There is also a conference second-place game, which decides the Southcentral’s second automatic bid to the state tournament. The loser of the first-place game meets the winner of the loser’s bracket Saturday at 1 p.m.