Wasilla squad rallies for win

ANCHORAGE — Wes Smith simply was not going to be denied.

Smith tagged from third to score on a short fly ball late in the game twice to help the Alaska Road Warriors grab an 8-7 come-from-behind, extra-innings win over the Chugiak Mustangs during the opening round of the Alaska American Legion state championships at Mulcahy Stadium in Anchorage on Saturday morning.

JD Mayo scored the go-ahead run on an Eric Washington single in the top of the 10th, and Washington — Alaska’s left fielder — gunned down a runner at home plate in the bottom of the 10th to help the Warriors move forward in the winner’s bracket.

While Mayo and Washington sealed the victory, Smith gave the Road Warriors the chance to win.

Alaska, which trailed 5-1 at one point, tied the game at 5 when Smith tagged up and scored from third on a short pop fly that barely left the infield on the right side of the diamond. As soon as the catch was made by the Chugiak second baseman, there was no doubt Smith was headed home.

“I told him to tag up on anything in the air,” Road Warriors head coach Steve Mossburgh said. “Wesley is what makes it all go around. He’s the one that drives the team.”

Smith did it again in the ninth. After drawing a lead-off walk in the top of the inning, Smith stole second base and advanced to third on a Chugiak balk. With Smith on third, David Newman punched a fly ball into short right field. Smith tagged up and beat the play at the plate.

The Road Warriors scored twice in the inning. With the 6-5 advantage, Josh Grissom singled and scored from second base on a Dusty Wisdom single.

Chugiak was able to score a pair of runs in the bottom of the ninth to force extra innings. But in the 10th, the Road Warriors answered back.

Mayo doubled to the left field corner to lead off the inning and quickly scored on Washington’s single to right center field.

“They just didn’t give up today,” Mossburgh said. “I’m so proud of them for that reason.”

Chugiak threatened to tie the game once again in the bottom of the 10th. The Mustangs lead-off hitter drew a walk and advanced to second. The runner tried to score from second on a Chugiak single, but Washington fielded the ball in left and gunned the runner down.

“That was the play of the game,” Mossburgh said.

The Mustangs did the bulk of their damage in the fourth, scoring five times in the bottom of the inning to take a 5-1 lead. Chugiak had only two hits through four innings, but was able to capitalize on walks and errors.

“We had that one bad innings. They put up a five-spot when they probably shouldn’t have,” Mossburgh said.

The Warriors were able to rally, chipping away until they tied the game in the seventh. Mayo reached on a bunt single to lead off the seventh and scored on a Newman double. Smith followed by scoring the first of his two runs to knot the game at 5.

The Road Warriors did walk nine and commit four errors in the win, numbers Mossburgh would like to see change as the Warriors move on in the tourney.

“That’s the one thing our pitchers did bad all day, walk guys, especially in positions where they’re going to score runs,” Mossburgh said. “Close games, you can’t walk people.”

But despite the walks and errors, the Road Warriors continued to score runs in the game which lasted just about four hours.

“They stayed right with it. They battled back,” Mossburgh said. “We’ve had games where we would have folded. This game they wanted to show Chugiak we could beat them.”

The Road Warriors will play again in the tourney Monday at 1 p.m. at Mulcahy.

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