No local team has had more success in the Alaska 529 Midseason Classic over the years than the Chugiak Mustangs.

They were the first Alaska team to advance to the title game in 1995, the first to win the tournament in 1997 and their six appearances in the championship game ranks No. 1 overall.

Chugiak alum John Sims played in the inaugural tournament 30 years ago and he’s back in the dugout today as head coach, looking to repeat that past success.

When it comes to Outside teams in this tournament, nobody has done it better than the River Bandits of Napoleon, Ohio, who own a record four titles and won 33 of 39 Midseason Classic games dating back to 2005.

That history will clash in Sunday’s semifinals when Chugiak faces Napoleon at 2:15 p.m. at Mulcahy Stadium while the other semifinal matchup pits Kenai against Eagle River at 5 p.m.

Alaska 529 Midseason Classic
At Mulcahy Stadium
Saturday
Kenai 15, Dimond 1
Chugiak 12, Dimond 2
Chugiak 6, Service 3
Napoleon (OH) 7, Eagle River 2
Sunday
11:45am Fourth Place West vs. Service
2:15pm Semifinals Chugiak vs. Napoleon (OH)
5:00pm Semifinals Eagle River vs. Kenai
7:30pm Title Game

Chugiak 6, Service 3

Tyler Cage, Owen Dockstader and Andrew Gruszynski each smacked triples in the sixth inning to highlight a five-run frame as the Mustangs punched their ticket to the semifinals.

Trailing 2-1 in the sixth, Chugiak banged out three triples, a double, a single and a sac fly to storm back and beat Service, relegating the Cougars to the fourth-place game.

Meanwhile, the Mustangs are riding off to the semifinals.

Starter Tyson Morgan pitched 5.2 innings in a no decision, but his performance was worth mentioning. The right-hander stranded two runners on base in each of the second, third, fourth and fifth innings as he danced around three singles and seven walks.

The two runs he gave up were unearned and came after he was already in the dugout. He struck out one batter and carried a shutout into the sixth inning.

The game stayed 1-0 through five because of Morgan and Service starter Andrew Hickman, who recorded nine groundball outs in the first four frames. Reliever Kolby Jensen entered in the fifth with two on and no outs but got out of the jam after two pitches – a sac bunt followed by a double play.

Service, which banged out 16 hits Thursday, found itself struggling to score after losing 1-0 in nine innings Friday and then trailing 1-0 entering the sixth inning Saturday. With two outs, it didn’t look good for that trend to stop.

But back-to-back two-out walks followed by a single and error got the Cougars on the board as they took a 2-1 lead.

It didn’t last.

Chugiak responded in a big way in the bottom half of the sixth, with four extra-base hits in eight plate appearances.

Cage tripled and came home on Jack Carron’s sac fly to tie the game. Then Sampson Young singled and came on Dockstader’s triple. Luke Salle was hit by a pitch and then Gruszynski tripled to make it 5-2. Then Fischer Sims doubled in Gruszynski for the last run of the rally.

Service’s Kolby Jensen went 3-for-4 and drove in a run to pull the Cougars within 6-3 in the seventh. Second baseman Sebastian Fournier made two beautiful plays in the field with a runner on third base to save a run each time.

Service 000 002 1 – 3 5 0
Chugiak 001 005 x – 6 6 1
Service – A. Hickman, Jensen (5), Christian (6) and Martindale. Chugiak – Morgan, Salle (6) and Young. SO – Morgan 1, Hickman 1, Salle 1, Christian 1. 2B – Sims (C). 3B – A. Gruszynski (C), Cage (C), Dockstader (C). HR – None.

Napoleon 7, Eagle River 2

Jacob Shadle shoved and Landon Amstutz annihilated a pitch for a no-doubt home run as the River Bandits of Napoleon, Ohio, beat Eagle River.

Shadle struck out 10 of the 25 batters he faced in six innings. The right-hander threw 102 pitches and ended each of his six frames with a strikeout. More importantly, he held the Wolves to 1-for-9 hitting with runners in scoring position and four times stranded a runner on third base.

The Bandits (27-4, 3-0 Pool A) and Eagle River (14-2, 2-1 Pool A) had already clinched berths in Sunday’s semifinals before the first pitch was thrown.

Amstutz crushed a three-run bomb over the wall in left centerfield, easily clearing 365 feet. The slugger now has eight RBIs in three tournament games as he makes a case for the Big Stick Award.

Eight-hole hitter Connor Gendron went 2-for-3 with a double and three RBIs, all of them coming with two outs. He had a two-run double in the second inning and a single in the fourth as the Bandits pushed their lead to 4-1.

Gendron’s run-scoring base knock snapped a 16.2-inning scoreless streak in the tournament by Eagle River pitchers dating back to last year’s Midseason Classic title game. That’s the second longest scoreless streak in the tournament’s 28-year history, second only to a Auburn (WA) club that went 17.2 innings without giving up a run in 2019.

Napoleon broke that streak in 2019 and the Bandits broke another streak last night.

Eagle River mustered only three hits and Jack Mullen registered his team’s lone RBI with a two-out, two-strike single to score Dallin Roberts in the third to pull the Wolves within 2-1.

Wolves’ reliever Killian Johannes struck out four in 2.1 innings of scoreless relief.
Napoleon 020 230 0 – 7 10 3
Eagle River 001 001 0 – 2 3 2
Napoleon – Shadle, Rubinstein (7) and Gendron. Eagle River – Molloy, Johannes (5) and Roberts. SO – Shadle 10, Johannes 4, Molloy 2, Rubinstein 2. 2B – Gendron (N), Kepler (N). 3B – Woods (N). HR – Amstutz (N).

Kenai 15, Dimond 1

Nine-hole hitter Matthew Shilling continued his solid play in the tournament, going 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs as the Twins scored in five of six innings to beat the Lynx.

Kenai (10-7, 3-0 Pool B) got RBIs from six other players and took advantage of 10 hits, six hit batsmen and five Dimond errors. Jacob Joanis went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

Starter Hunter Williams pitched five innings, striking out five and allowing five hits and one run. Joanis closed it out.

In addition to the RBIs, the Twins crossed the plate on a balk, wild pitch, hit by pitch, fielder’s choice and multiple miscues.

Kenai scored seven runs in the sixth inning after eight straight batters reached on a walk, hit batsman and six singles.

Dimond (3-12, 0-2 Pool B) was out of sorts from the jump, hitting the first three batters to start the game. Camden Sweet’s RBI doubled pulled the Lynx within 5-1. AJ Mathiason went 2-for-3 and came out of the bullpen to pitch an inning of relief with three strikeouts.

Kenai 320 217 – 15 10 1
Dimond 010 000 – 1 5 5
Kenai – Williams, J. Joanis (6) and Stuyvesant. Dimond – Flannery, Mathiason (6) and Willis. SO – Williams 5, Flannery 5, Mathiason 3, Joanis 1. 2B – Sweet (D). 3B – None. HR – None.

Chugiak 12, Dimond 2

Luke Salle, Blake Yawit and Sampson Young did most of the heavy lifting for the offense as the Mustangs made quick work of the Lynx in five innings.

Salle doubled, walked and drove in three runs while Yawit and Young each had two hits and two RBIs for the Mustangs (11-4, 1-1 Pool B), who broke the game open with a seven-run second inning.

Yawit was 2-for-3 with two runs and Young was 2-for-3 with one run. Nine different Chugiak players came across to score. Big Tyler Cage had three stolen bags.

Sam Theis started on the bump and struck out eight batters in four innings, including four out of six across the second and third innings. Owen Dockstader closed it out.

Dimond’s Max Gaither drove in both runs with a two-out single in the second inning. The Lynx finished 0-3 in Pool B, aka, the Group of Death, with Chugiak, Kenai and Service – three teams with a combined record of 32-15 this season.

Chugiak 270 30 – 12 8 0
Dimond 020 00 – 2 4 4
Chugiak – Theis, Dockstader (5) and Young. Dimond – Leathard, Sweet (2) and Mathiason. SO – Theis 8, Sweet 2. 2B – Salle (C). 3B – None. HR – None.