Warriors the underdogs in first round of tourney

WASILLA — The Alaska Road Warriors haven’t enjoyed much success against the Service Cougars this season.

Although Alaska head coach Steve Mossburgh was less than jazzed to see his sixth-seeded Road Warriors paired with the third-seeded Cougars during the first round of the Alaska American Legion state tournament, the longtime local baseball coach also remembers what the East Thunderbirds did to his team last season.

“We came in hot last year and East was the lower seed,” Mossburgh said, recalling the 2008 state tournament. “And they beat us, so you never know.”

So this time around, the Road Warriors will be the ones trying to pull off the upset when Alaska meets the Cougars today at 1:30 p.m. at Mulcahy Stadium in Anchorage during the first round of the annual state tourney.

Alaska (11-9) finished 2-3 during the regular season against Service (13-7), but one of those wins came due to a bizarre forfeit during the Todd Ryan Memorial Tournament in Wasilla earlier this month.

“We haven’t had good luck against them,” Mossburgh said.

Alaska is credited with a 7-0 win in its first meeting of the year against Service. The Road Warriors were actually trailing 11-3 during the final inning when a Cougar player was ejected from the game. Service didn’t have any athletes on the bench to substitute in, and the Cougars were forced to forfeit the contest.

Service used 9-6, 10-3 and 9-3 wins to put together a three-game winning streak against Alaska in July. The Road Warriors capped the season series with a 13-7 victory over the Cougars on July 18.

Mossburgh said Service ace Bryan Beard has burnt the Warriors twice with a pair of complete game victories against Alaska this summer, and expects the right-hander to be on the mound today.

“He’s got a pretty good fastball, pretty good move to first,” Mossburgh said.

The Alaska skipper said he is still debating on who he will send to the mound to open the tourney. Either Rhowe Stefanski or Mike Wagner could start, Mossburgh said. Stefanski finished 4-1 during the regular season, while Wagner was 4-4.

Mossburgh also has starter Matt Packa in his pitching arsenal.

Outfielder J.D. Mayo and utility man Chris Bydlon, who both hit .400 or better during the regular season, lead the Alaska position players.

Mayo, typically the team’s every day right fielder, hit a team-high .429. Bydlon finished the regular season right at .400.

Wagner (.323), center fielder Eric Washington (.375) and infielder Kyle Bovy (.391) were also productive at the plate for Alaska.

Mossburgh said overall health should be a key for his team during the tournament. Alaska had suffered through injury woes during July. Catcher Keith Christopher has been out with a knee injury and reserve catcher Taylor Palmer has had a hamstring issue, Mossburgh. With two catchers out of the lineup, Mossburgh moved Bydlon behind the plate.

“He did a good job for us catching,” Mossburgh said of Bydlon, who will move back to the infield with the return of Christopher and Palmer. “But he does well wherever we put him.”

Alaska is one of seven teams with double-digit regular season wins in the tourney. Chugiak and South Anchorage are the top two teams after both finished with identical 16-3 records.

Third-seeded Service, fourth-seeded Dimond (12-8), fifth-seeded Fairbanks (11-8), sixth-seeded Alaska and seventh-seeded East Anchorage (10-10) are separated in the standings by only three games.

“The teams are fairly close all the way down,” Mossburgh said.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.

American Legion state tournament seeding

1. Chugiak (16-3); 2. South (16-3); 3. Service (13-7); 4. Dimond (12-8); 5. Fairbanks (11-8); 6. Alaska (11-9); 7. East (10-10); 8. Kenai (8-12); 9. West (6-13-1); 10. Bartlett (2-18).