The Sitka Wolves baseball team comes off the field after clinching the Region V title. (KCAW photo/Robert Woolsey)
The Sitka Wolves won the Region V Baseball Title this weekend, and earned a berth as the number 1 seed from Southeast in the state tournament.
Sitka defeated Juneau 7 – 2 Saturday evening (5-31-14) on Moller Field to claim the championship. Fred Elliot pitched a complete game; Wolves’ batters posted 10 hits in all, and had a four-run rally in the sixth inning to put things out of reach for Juneau.
Although Sitka made it look easy, the outcome could have been different. Juneau beat the Wolves earlier in the afternoon to force a playoff game. Sitka coach Ed Conway says Juneau played hard coming out of the loser’s bracket, and their fatigue was a factor in the result.
“Those guys were pretty wore out by this game. It’s their third game in a row. We really just needed to throw strikes, and we figured we would win. But we didn’t play very well today. Not as good as we have to next week.”
Conway is referring to the state tournament, which opens this Thursday, also in Sitka’s Moller Field. Both Sitka and Juneau won berths in the tournament. Sitka will meet the number 3 seed from the Cook Inlet Conference. Eagle River, which is making its state tournament debut.
Conway has not seen much of the Wolves’ first-round opponent.
“I don’t know much about them. This is their first time in the tournament. I heard they can hit. I heard they’re a little thin in pitching.”
The Sitka – Eagle River contest is scheduled to begin at 7 PM on Thursday June 5. Again, the eight-team state baseball tournament is being held right here in Sitka at Moller Field. Unlike the regional tournament, it’s a single-elimination format.
High school baseball is unclassified in Alaska — all schools, large and small, play against each other. The format has not proven to be a disadvantage for Sitka: The Wolves won state championships three years in a row in 2005, 2006, and 2007.
The title game will be played at 4 PM Saturday.
