Philip Wall's arm helped propel No. 1 Juneau past No. 2 Kenai 7-1, handing the Twins their first loss in the Legion state baseball tournament and keeping the Midnight Suns alive heading into championship Saturday.
Wall pitched a complete nine-inning game for Juneau, fanning six batters while allowing three hits and one earned run in the Friday game at Mulcahy Stadium.
In the early game, No. 6 Service defeated No. 5 Wasilla in extra innings to stay alive in the tournament.
Juneau will face Service in an elimination game at 3 p.m. Saturday with the winner facing Kenai at 6:30 p.m. for the championship.
Both games are at Mulcahy Stadium.
At the plate, Wall went 2 for 3 with an RBI.
Donavin McCurley (2 runs, 1 RBI) and Zebadiah Storie (1 run, 2 RBI) highlighted Juneau's hitters.
The Midnight Suns scored two runs in the first inning and continued their steady offense throughout the game, never scoring more than two runs in an inning, but tallying 13 hits by the end of the game.
Juneau has been on the brink of elimination since losing to Wasilla on Wednesday.
Paul Steffensen drove in Joshua Darrow in the ninth inning for Kenai's only run.
Service continued its underdog run by edging Wasilla 5-4 in the early game.
Derek Scoggins drove in his third run of the game on a double to center field in the top of the 10th inning that allowed Cooper Bailey Parsons to score from second base.
The Cougars retired the Warriors' first three batters in the bottom of the inning to end the game.
Service took the first lead on a three-run third inning that included Scoggins' first two RBIs, but Wasilla climbed back to tie the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the third and 4-4 in the bottom of the fourth before Bailey Parsons finally put Service up for good.
Nick Hall added two runs for the Cougars and Ronan Klancher supplied a run and an RBI. Hall also earned the win on the mound, striking out three batters in the final two innings.
Wasilla garnered two RBIs from Benjamin Werner and runs from Jeffrey Forster, Matthew Palmer, Samuel Loyer and Kyle Graham.
American Legion state tournament
Mulcahy Stadium
Friday's results
Service 5, Wasilla 4
Juneau 7, Kenai 1
Saturday's games
3 p.m. — Juneau vs. Service, elimination game
6:30 p.m. — Juneau-Service winner vs. Kenai, championship