Sports

Streaking Kenai advances to Legion baseball title tilt

Relegated to the loser's bracket on the opening day of the American Legion Alaska state baseball tournament, Kenai Post 20 on Friday continued its winning ways with a pair of one-run victories in elimination games and advanced to Saturday's championship game.

Sixth-seeded Kenai beat defending state champion and third-seeded South Post 4, 5-4 in 11 innings, to avenge a Tuesday loss to South that dropped it into the loser's bracket. Kenai then beat second-seeded Juneau Post 25, 3-2.

That sweep at Mulcahy Stadium delivered Kenai (4-1 in the tournament) into Saturday's championship game against top-seeded Chugiak Post 33 (3-0) at 3 p.m. An if-necessary championship game – the eight-team tournament uses a double-elimination format – would be played at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.

The state champion advances to next week's Northwest Regional in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The runner-up advances to the Northwest Cart Regional in Logan, Utah, beginning next week.

Kenai has won four straight games since Tuesday's 4-3 loss to South. Kenai in 2012 lost its opening game in the tournament before reeling off seven straight victories for the title.

Kenai plated both its game-winning runs Friday courtesy of bases-loaded walks.

With the game against Juneau tied 2-2 in the top of the eighth, Kenai used four walks – the final free pass to Josh Darrow scored Michael Svoboda – to take a 3-2 lead. Juneau pitchers walked 12 batters.

ADVERTISEMENT

Kenai reliever Justice Miller made that lead hold. He pitched three innings of hitless relief, struck out two and faced just one batter over the minimum.

South trailed Kenai 4-2 Friday before Maximillian Costello's RBI single scored Trevor McGinnis in the seventh inning and Sladen Mohl's eighth-inning home run forged a 4-4 tie.

But Kenai bagged the game-winning run in the top of the 11th when Kenneth Griffin led off with a single and later scored on a bases-loaded walk to Jacob Sonnen, who finished with two runs scored and a run driven in.

Kenai's Thomas Bowe, who homered, earned the win with three innings of one-hit relief. He struck out three.

Chugiak won the regular-season American Legion championship with a 17-1 record and in June captured its first state high school championship.

ADVERTISEMENT