Palmer baseball team reaches state tournament win column for 1st time in 32 years

A two-out rally in the 12th inning propelled Palmer Post 15 to its first state-tournament victory in 32 years Thursday at Mulcahy Stadium.

The eighth-seeded Pioneers surprised fourth-seeded Dimond 3-2 on the opening day of the American Legion state baseball tournament, which hadn’t seen a Palmer win since 1989.

Evan Walker hit a two-out single to put Palmer in the lead and reliever Koen Leader retired three in a row to put an end to the seventh-longest game in the 69-year history of the state tournament.

That was the first surprise of the day. The next came when sixth-seeded Eagle River trounced second-seeded Service 13-1.

Third-seeded Juneau shut out seventh-seeded Chugiak 3-0, and top-seeded South took a 5-1 win over fifth-seeded Ketchikan in the late game.

Pool play continues through Sunday, with semifinals on Monday and the championship game on Tuesday.

Palmer 3, Dimond 2 (12 innings)

Bryant Marks started Palmer’s game-winning rally in the 12th inning by drawing a two-out walk and Walker ended it with an RBI single after going hitless in five plate appearances.

Leaders singled to move Marks to third and Kaden Ketchum walked to load the bases for Walker.

Both teams scored two runs in the fifth inning and the score stayed knotted for the next six innings, during which Dimond wasted 11 baserunners and Palmer stranded five. The Lynx, who left a total of 15 on base, left the bases loaded in the ninth and 11th innings.

Marks drove in both of Palmer’s fifth-inning runs with a two-out double, part of a busy, up-and-down day for the catcher.

Besides scoring the winning run, Marks was 3-for-5 at the plate with two doubles, two RBIs and two strikeouts, and he committed two errors and had two passed balls behind the plate. He also stole a base.

His first double of the day made it 2-0, but the Lynx came right back in the bottom of the inning.

Peyton Montagna hit a leadoff single, stole second, went to third on a throwing error by Marks and scored on a passed ball by Marks for Dimond’s first run.

Garrett Lick, who was at the plate while Montagna circled the bases, kept things going with a double and tied the game on an error by third baseman Brayden Parrent.

Montagna and Lick both had three hits to help Dimond outhit the Pioneers 10-6.

Dimond got masterful pitching from starter Ryan Henrickson, who struck out 14 in 7-plus innings. He reached the 105-pitch limit with his 14th strikeout, forcing him out of the game with two out in the eighth. He allowed two hits and two unearned runs.

Chase Matthews, the third of four Dimond pitchers, gave up Walker’s game-winning hit to shoulder the loss.

Palmer starter Jason Gunderson struck out six, walked three and scattered seven hits before hitting the pitch limit at the end of the eighth inning.

Landon Guggenmos and Leaders shut out the Lynx the rest of the way, although each had to escape bases-loaded jams. Leaders retired all four batters he faced for the victory.

Eagle River 13, Service 1

Cam Witte struck out six in six innings and Eagle River erupted for eight runs in the sixth inning to take down Service.

In the big inning, the Wolves touched three Service pitchers for five hits, two walks and two hit batsmen while sending 12 batters to the plate. Orazio Ramos drove in two runs with a double, Josh Thompson drove in two with a single, Witte had an RBI double and Gavin Oakley had an RBI single.

Connor Johnson slugged a solo home run for Eagle River in the fourth inning.

Service got its lone run in the fourth inning when Henry Helgeson hit a leadoff double and Coen Niclai followed with a single. The Cougars went on to load the bases with no outs but Witte ended the threat by retiring three in a row, two by strikeout.

Juneau 3, Chugiak 0

Pitching by committee carried Juneau past Chugiak. Three pitchers combined for a two-hitter in the seven-inning game, with the win going to mid-reliever Kai Schmidt, who entered with two on and one out in the third inning.

Schmidt retired nine of the 11 batters he faced, including six in a row.

He score two of Juneau’s runs, getting free passes each time — he was hit by a pitch in the fourth inning and walked in the sixth — and scoring on errors each time.

Gavin Millard’s two-out single in the sixth scored Porter Nelson.

Chugiak produced 10 baserunners — Fischer Sims reached base three times — but only four advanced past first base.

South 5, Ketchikan 1

Isaac Johnson threw five shutout innings to silence Ketchikan’s bats, while South’s bats came alive late in the game.

Johnson gave up two hits, struck out seven and retired eight of the last nine batters he faced, and the Wolverines padded his 2-0 lead the next inning with a three-run outburst.

South belted four hits of its seven hits in the sixth inning, starting with Maddux Soland’s leadoff triple, which set the stage for Joey Serra’s sacrifice fly. Reece Ivanoff and Kaden Bevegni rapped back-to-back singles and Skylar Sugita plated both of them with a two-out single.

Soland scored twice and Sugita was 2 for 3 for South. Terik Brown had two of Ketchikan’s three hits.

Alaska Legion state tournament

Thursday’s games

Palmer 3, Dimond 2 (12 innings)

Eagle River 13, Service 1

Juneau 3, Chugiak 0

South 5, Ketchikan 1

Friday’s games

11 a.m. — Chugiak vs. Service

2:15 p.m. — Ketchikan vs. Dimond

5:30 p.m. — Palmer vs. South

Saturday’s games

11 a.m. — Chugiak vs. Eagle River

2:15 p.m. — Palmer vs. Ketchikan

5:30 p.m. — Juneau vs. Service

Sunday’s games

2 p.m. — Eagle River vs. Juneau

5:30 p.m. — Dimond vs. 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 free of charge at alaskalegion.com.