Anchorage Daily News

Alaska high school baseball teams have spent months indoors, fielding grounders on gym floors, swinging into batting cage nets and throwing "soft" baseballs designed for indoor use.

The unusual dump of snow in April didn't help. Games were canceled and the start of the season was pushed back at least a week. In the Valley, snow kept Hermon Brothers Field in Palmer too wet for play last week.

In Wasilla, first-year coach Shane McRee and his players spent practices pumping an estimated 2,000 gallons of water out of Wasilla Senior Field using a sump pump and hose as well as buckets.

After all that work indoors and out, teams were more than eager to finally begin play.

"At last, we're outside," McRee said. "Baseball is in the air."

It's a short season -- just nine games in less than a month. A handful of players move on to play American Legion ball through the summer, but for many, the month of May is their only time on a baseball diamond.

Teams in the Southcentral Conference (Colony, Palmer, Wasilla, Cordova, Homer, Kodiak, Soldotna) played 10 conference games last season. As recently as 2003, teams played 16 conference games, but programs at Houston, Seward and Kenny Lake have folded since then.

Still, Valley coaches feel there could be more conference games per week, or at least a few games with teams in other conferences. Colony, Wasilla and Palmer have no games scheduled with teams in the Cook Inlet Conference, the Mid Alaska Conference (mainly Fairbanks) or the Southeast Conference.

"I don't understand why we have so few games," said Palmer coach David Combs, adding that it's tough to spend so much time indoors for so little time out.

It isn't any better in the Cook Inlet Conference, where teams play 10 conference games and no nonconference contests this season.

The short season means every game counts. One or two losses and any team's shot at the state tournament may be history.

That happened to Colony last season. The Knights finished 8-2, but that was only good enough for third place behind undefeated Kodiak and 9-1 Homer, which grabbed the two spots reserved for Southcentral teams.

Colony's two losses were to those teams.

The good news for Colony this season is that most of the team returns -- and a lot of those returners can hit, field, pitch and play multiple positions.

Kody Ziter, for instance, was a .300 hitter last season with power. In the field, Ziter will catch and play the outfield.

Other returners include Chris Breck (pitcher, infield), Blake Huppert (second base), Josh Boring (shortstop), Cory Cucullu (pitcher, first base), Colter Peterson (pitcher, catcher, third base) and Matt Packa (pitcher, infield).

"Realistically, we have seven kids who can play three or four positions really well," said Colony coach Jamie Mayo. "I don't want to jinx us, but I'm excited about the kids we've got. Multiple players who can play multiple positions."

Twenty-eight players tried out at Colony, more than any Valley team but significantly fewer than seasons past.

Mayo blamed the shortened season and so few games.

At Palmer, 2-8 last season, 18 players are out, Combs said.

A lot of responsibility will be handled by three returning seniors: lefty pitcher Cole Smith, shortstop T.J. Fullmer and pitcher/catcher/outfield Keith Christopher, who led the team in RBIs last season.

Combs isn't sure what to expect from his players. Palmer pulled out a wild 9-8 win against Wasilla on Wednesday, which could boost the team's confidence. Despite blowing a four-run lead, Palmer came back with three runs in the top of the sixth and held on.

"That was unlike the team last year," Combs said. "They would have just folded and rolled over. This team didn't, and I'm very proud of the way they played. They battled."

At Wasilla, about 26 players are out, most of whom played junior varsity last season. The team is sophomore heavy, which bodes well for the future. But don't count out the present.

Assistant coach Myrl Thompson said he coached most of the young players when they were junior all-stars, and that group was competitive statewide.

Wasilla finished 4-6 in conference last season.

Key players include sophomores Chris Bydlon (second base, catcher), Tommy Rodamer (first base, pitcher), Dusty Wisdom (third base, pitcher), Eric Marshall and junior Mike Shaw (pitcher, third base).

"Right now, their eyes and ears are open," said McRee, a Wasilla High graduate. "For a first-year coach, that's a good thing."

Find Ron Wilmot online at adn.com/contact/rwilmot or call 257-4200.

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