Wasilla junior throws no-hitter

WASILLA — A career night helped the Wasilla Warriors score a top spot in the upcoming Southcentral Conference Championships baseball tournament.

Junior Nolan Monaghan pitched his first career high school no-hitter to lead the Wasilla Warriors to a 10-0 win over the Kodiak Bears last Thursday at Carl Fritzler Field in Wasilla. With the win, Wasilla improved to 9-1 in Southcentral play. That victory, combined with Kodiak’s win over Colony this week gives the Warriors the No. 1 seed in the North Division for the conference tourney, which starts Thursday at Houston High School.

“That was big,” Wasilla head coach Jason Terryberry said by phone Saturday of Monaghan’s outing in a key game against Kodiak. “I think he had a little bit more intensity. He really wanted the start. That was a big game for us.”

Monaghan worked quickly to pitch a five-inning perfect game. He fanned a dozen, without allowing a Kodiak baserunner.

“He had his stuff going,” Terryberry said. “He had command of all of his pitches. He was getting up early on hitters.”

Terryberry said Monaghan has gone the distance for the Warriors, but never finished with a no-hitter.

“He has the ability to out and be dominant,” Terryberry said. “Sometimes he gets up there in his pitch count, but he was getting ahead and kept his pitch count down.”

With Monaghan dominant on the mound, the Warrior hitters put together a few big innings. Wasilla opened with three runs in the bottom of the first and added five more in the third.

Juniors Jeffrey Forster and Daniel Pankratz, and seniors Blake Marks and Zach Garnett each drove in two runs. Marks collected a pair of hits, and was one of three Warriors to score twice.

Fueled by a quick start Friday, the Warriors raced to a lopsided win over Kodiak to complete the two-game series sweep. Friday’s victory counts as a nonconference win.

Wasilla scored five runs in each of the first two innings, and posted a 14-1 win over the Bears.

Seniors Sam Loyer and Buddy Dale led the Warriors with two hits each. Marks and sophomore Alex Clark drove in two runs each, and Marks scored a game-high three runs. Nine different Warriors finished with at least a hit Friday.

Loyer earned the victory on the mound.

Moose split with Homer

HOMER — Jarred Yanez blasted a three-run homer to lead Palmer to a 9-6 win over the Homer Mariners in Homer Friday.

Homer rebounded with a 9-3 win over the Moose Saturday.