The hits keep coming for Alaska Legion baseball teams – in a good way.

The state’s success ranges from last year’s historic Northwest regional success to sweeping college summer league teams in this year’s all-star games to going toe-to-toe with Outside competition at this week’s Alaska 529 Midseason Classic.

Chugiak put another feather in Alaska’s baseball cap Saturday after beating Lower Columbia (WA) 7-5 on Day 3 of the four-day tournament at Mulcahy Stadium, giving The Last Frontier its eighth win in the last four tournaments over a Lower 48 team.

Service and Dimond also stood tall as each team dropped a tough two-run decision as moving day came to the Midseason Classic with four teams securing berths to Sunday’s semifinals, with the winners facing off for the title later that night.

This is the 27th edition of the tournament, with Outside teams winning 20 titles and Alaska teams six. Chugiak’s three titles lead the local contingent while South was the last Alaska team to win the Midseason Classic in 2018.

We are guaranteed to have another Alaska team in the championship game with Eugene (OR) and Lower Columbia (WA) playing in the first semifinal and Eagle River and Chugiak squaring off for bragging rights in the second semifinal.

Chugiak coach John Sims and Eagle River coach Bill Lierman were high school and Legion teammates at Chugiak back in the day and led their 1995 squad to the title game of the inaugural tournament, losing 5-4 to Kennewick (WA).

Alaska 529 Midseason Classic
@Mulcahy Stadium
SATURDAY
Chugiak 7, Lower Columbia (WA) 5
Lower Columbia (WA) 3, Service 1
Eugene (OR) 5, Dimond 2
Eugene (OR) 22, West 1
Eagle River 9, West 4
Bye: South
SUNDAY
11:45am Fifth Place
Service vs. West
2:15pm Semifinals
Lower Columbia (WA) vs. Eugene (OR)
5:00pm Semifinals
Eagle River vs Chugiak
7:30pm
Championship

Chugiak 7, Lower Columbia (WA) 5

Owen Dockstader’s two-out, two-run single in the third inning provided the Mustangs a two-run cushion that starter Preston Rau and reliver Gabe Gruszynski made stand. With the win, Chugiak improved to 2-1 in Pool B and advanced to Sunday’s semifinals. Rau pitched 5.2 innings to earn the win while Gruszynski closed it out, getting all four outs on strikeouts. Gruszynski also had a nice day at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a double that kickstarted a two-run second inning, and in the field, throwing out a runner from his knees at second base. The Mustangs scored in each of the first four innings after putting the leadoff runner on base. All 12 runs were scored in the first four innings before the pitchers got serious and shut it down. Lower Columbia reliever Talon McGrorty threw 4.2 innings, allowing four hits and one run while striking out six. Teammate Kolten Lindstrom singled to give his team a 4-3 lead, walked, got down a sac bunt and made five assists at third base. He was also part of a 7-5-2 relay that chopped down a runner at the plate. Chugiak’s Tyler Cage drove in a run, his tournament-best seventh RBI.

Lower Columbia (WA) 3, Service 1

Logan Barker and Kolten Lindstrom anchored a four-man pitching staff that threw a combined 1-hitter to help Lower Columbia rally past Service and advance to Sunday’s semifinals. Barker threw four innings to earn the win and Lindstrom racked up the save, serving as the opener and closer. Lindstrom started the game and pitched a scoreless first frame before coming back for the seventh and recording another scoreless frame. Barker gave up one hit while also striking out three. Lower Columbia catcher Tyson McGrorty threw out two runners on the bases and left fielder Logan Dorland saved a run with nice catch along the foul line in the sixth. The game was scoreless through five, keyed by pitching. Service starter Jake Rafferty threw five innings and held the Washington team to two hits while striking out seven. He got out of a two-on, none-out jam in the third thanks to back-to-back Ks and a groundout. He retired Easton Marshall in an 11-pitch battle in the fifth but lost a 9-pitch battle to Jackson Rohl in the sixth. Rohl, a pinch-hitter, fouled off three straight pitches with a full count before earning a walk with the bases loaded to plate the tying run. Talon McGrorty was up next, and he too earned a bases-loaded walk to put Lower Columbia ahead 2-1. Rafferty led off the sixth with a walk and came around to score when Sebastian Fournier drew a bases-loaded walk for the game’s first run. The lead didn’t last, though. The Cougars will play in Sunday’s fifth-place game.

Eugene (OR) 5, Dimond 2

Kyle Miller and Eli Crist combined for six straight shutout frames and the Challengers got just enough offense to hold off the Lynx and extend their winning streak to 20 games. Miller started and settled down nicely after giving up two runs with two outs in the first inning. He worked around a leadoff walk in the second and a leadoff double in the fourth. He scattered five hits and three walks in his five innings while striking out four. Eugene tied the game in the second inning on RBIs by Crist and Kaden Starr. Dillon Butler’s single and Crist’s double got the party started. In the third, the Challengers took the lead for good after Adam Elliott drew a leadoff walk and came around to score on an error. The lead swelled to 5-2 in the fourth after another Lynx error led to another run and Aiden Hazen scored on the back end of a double steal. Meanwhile, Dimond pitcher Eli Lipinski was dealing and deserved a better fate. The right-hander threw all six innings, limiting the dangerous Oregon team to just three hits while working around seven walks. Lipinski pitched 1-2-3 frames in the first and seventh and got some glove love behind him in the sixth when shortstop Pama Brito turned a 6-3 double play and ended the inning by catching a foul ball against the fence in left field.

Eugene (OR) 22, West 1

The only drama in this one was whether the Emerald Challengers would get the tournament record for most runs in a game. They fell short although it hardly mattered as they extended their winning streak to 21 games and advanced to Sunday’s semifinals. The Challengers put this one to bed early, with 11 of the first 12 batters reaching base en route to posting a 9-0 lead after the first inning. In the third, they scored seven straight runs before making the first out as the lead swelled to 20-1. Sixteen players saw action in some form and 15 of them scored a run. The only one who didn’t, Drew Wooten, did drive in a run so literally everyone produced up and down the lineup. This was the most runs in the tournament since 2010, when West Warrick (RI) pounded South 23-1. The tournament record is held by Excelsior (MN), which whipped West 27-1 in 2007. On this night, Eugene’s Dillon Butler doubled twice and knocked in four runs. Tyler Mikel had three RBIs and Peyton Tyner, Eli Crist and Adam Elliott had a pair of RBIs. Aiden Hazen picked up the win after pitching four of the five innings. He allowed four runs and one run while striking out three. West’s Sam Zieserl went 2-for-3 and Braden Meissner drove in his team’s lone run.

Eagle River 9, West 4

Alex Mullen came out of the bullpen to settle down the Wolves, who fell behind early before scoring the final seven runs unanswered to win the game and advance to the tournament semifinals. Mullen threw 4.2 innings, allowing just one hit and no runs while striking out five. He was a steady hand at a time when Eagle River looked shaky after the previous two pitchers had put the team in an early 4-2 hole. Mullen got back-to-back strikeouts with the bases loaded to end the third inning and was lights out the rest of the way. He also went 2-for-4 and scored a run. His brothers also got into the act. Alex Mullen went 2-for-3 with a triple, sac fly and three RBIs and Jack Mullen threw out a baserunner from behind the plate. Alex Mullen’s two-out, two-run triple tied the score 4-4 in the third inning. Gage Rose knocked in the next three runs, first with an RBI single in the fourth and then adding a two-run single in the fifth. West came out swinging as seven of the first 10 batters reached base. Jack Boots was the man, going 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs. He also scored the first run on a wild pitch. Later, his two-run single gave the Eagles a 4-2 lead. In the first inning, both teams turned double plays. Eagle River first baseman Liam Lierman snagged a liner and doubled up the runner at second and West center fielder Beckett Stolp threw out a baserunner at the plate to complete an 8-2 twin killing. The Eagles will play in the fifth-place game.