A busy week of American Legion baseball begins Tuesday night at Mulcahy Stadium with an all-star game, the prelude to the six-day state tournament.
All 15 of Alaska’s Legion teams will be represented in the game. First pitch is at 7 p.m.
The eight-team state tournament begins Thursday with the first of four straight days of pool-play games. Those games will determine who plays in the semifinals on Monday, July 26.
The favorite is the South Wolverines, who are 22-2 overall and 16-0 in league play. Most of their players were part of the South High team that went 17-0 to claim a prep state championship in June.
Service is the tournament’s second seed with a 14-2 record. Three teams tied for third place in the league standings at 11-5 — Juneau, Dimond and Ketchikan — with the No. 3 seed going to Juneau by virtual of a runs-allowed tiebreaker. Juneau gave up 51 runs in 16 league games, Dimond allowed 75 and Ketchikan 79.
Another tiebreaker was needed to determine the No. 6 seed — both Eagle River and Chugiak finished league play with 9-7 records, but Eagle River got the better seed because it won the head-to-head tiebreaker.
The No. 8 seed is Palmer, which enters with a 8-8 record.
The seven teams that didn’t qualify for the state tournament will compete in the Matson Invitational beginning Thursday at Bartlett High. Teams include West (7-9), Fairbanks (6-10), Wasilla (5-11), North Pole (5-11), Kenai (4-12), Bartlett (2-14) and East (2-14).
Alaska Legion state tournament
Thursday’s games
10 a.m. — #8 Palmer vs. #4 Dimond
1:15 p.m. — #6 Eagle River vs. #2 Service
4:30 p.m. — #7 Chugiak vs. #3 Juneau
7:45 p.m. — #5 Ketchikan vs. #1 South
Friday’s games
11 a.m. — #7 Chugiak vs. #2 Service
2:15 p.m. — #5 Ketchikan vs. #4 Dimond
5:30 p.m. — #8 Palmer vs. #1 South
Saturday’s games
11 a.m. — #7 Chugiak vs. #6 Eagle River
2:15 p.m. — #8 Palmer vs. #5 Ketchikan
5:30 p.m. — #3 Juneau vs. #2 Service
Sunday’s games
2 p.m. — #6 Eagle River vs. #3 Juneau
5:30 p.m. — #4 Dimond vs. #1 South
Monday’s games
1:15 p.m. — Semifinal
4:30 p.m. — Semifinal
Tuesday’s game
5:30 p.m. — Championship
All games at Mulcahy Stadium. All games livestreamed for free at alaskalegion.com.