The River Bandits from Napoleon, Ohio, are kings of Alaska again.

Napoleon capped a 13-0 road trip through the Land of the Midnight Sun with a 4-3 victory in extra innings over three-time defending Alaska state champion Eagle River in Sunday’s championship game of the Alaska 529 Midseason Classic.

Coming off the heels of winning the wood bat tournament in Kenai, the Bandits stormed to a 5-0 record at Mulcahy Stadium to win the Anchorage tournament for a record fifth time; the next closest team has three. They added to their trophy case titles won in 2022, 2019, 2013 and 2011 as the Ohio team improved to 35-6 at Mulcahy since 2005.

Alec Schaublin’s sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth inning scored Taysen Deckrosh from third base with the winning run for Napoleon (29-4).

With one out in the final frame, Deckrosh drew a walk and then advanced after he hustled to beat the throw on a bang-bang play at second base. Kadyn Radzik singled (making him 4-for-4) to get Deckrosh to third and then Schaublin brought him home with a fly ball to left centerfield.

Eagle River (15-3) battled every step of the way, sparked by the outstanding play of Brooks Inch. Unknown before the Legion season, this Class of 2027 all-star made a name for himself in the Midseason Classic.

After recording a two-out save in the semifinals, the right-hander came in relief in the title game and threw 5.2 incredible innings, retiring 15 of 16 batters at one point and holding the hard-hitting Bandits to three hits and one run. Napoleon’s college-like lineup features five .400 hitters.

In addition to his pitching, Inch also delivered at the plate as he drove in all three runs for the Wolves with an RBI single in the first inning and a two-out, two-strike, two-run single in the seventh inning to force extras.

Napoleon took a 3-1 lead in the third inning after scoring three runs on errors with two outs. Two runs came home after the Eagle River right fielder dropped a soft fly ball in a weird play that caused everybody on the field to stop. The outfielder took a casual approach to catching the ball and it either popped out of his glove or he lost it on the exchange, but for a moment the game stood still.

When the dust settled, Napoleon had wrestled away momentum.

Bandits’ starter Parker Woods struck out seven in 5.1 innings and left with a two-run cushion. Reliever Luke Hardy got through the sixth on a groundout, strikeout and pick off.

In the seventh, however, the Wolves came alive. On-base machine Dallin Roberts walked and Gunner Mountcastle singled to get the party started. After Liam Lierman moved the runners over with a sac bunt, the Bandits made a call to the bullpen and brought in Trey Rubinstein, a hard-throwing righty.

With his team down to its final strike, Inch shot one into swallow centerfield that found grass and extended the game. It was the first Midseason Classic title game to go extras since 2013, when Napoleon beat Texarkana (TX) 7-6 in eight innings.

Inch kept the good times rolling in the eighth when he induced three straight 6-3 putouts. Meanwhile, Bandits reliever Ryne Maag was marvelous with two scoreless frames when it mattered most.

In the ninth, Maag got a hand from his catcher Owen Espinoza, who had just entered the game and threw out a runner at second base; twice in the final four innings Eagle River had a runner erased on the base paths.

Pitching and defense were bedrock for the Bandits, who posted a staff ERA of 1.36 in 36 innings, which was better than the 1.65 number they put up in 2022.

Woods was wonderful all week for Napoleon and took home tournament MVP honors. Besides his stellar five frames in the title game, he finished 6-for-10 at the plate with two triples and added an outfield assist to boot.

Eagle River centerfielder Gunner Mountcastle made a diving catch and doubled up the runner at first to end the second inning, a fitting play of why he won the Gold Glove Award.

Napoleon slugger Landon Amstutz won the Big Stick Award after hitting .357 with a home run and tournament-high eight RBIs.

Service’s Rilen Niclai won Top Pitcher honors after retiring 23 straight batters and throwing eight no-hit innings in a no decision against Kenai.

Eagle River 100 000 200 – 3 6 2
Napoleon 003 000 001 – 4 7 0
Eagle River – Smith, Inch (4) and J. Mullen. Napoleon – Woods, Hardy (6), Rubinstein (7), Maag (8) and Gendron, Espinoza (9). SO – Woods 7, Smith 2, Inch 2, Hardy 1. 2B – Schaublin (N). 3B – None. HR – None.

Eagle River 6, Kenai 5

Jack Mullen and Dalton Smith each had two-out, two-run singles in the top of the seventh to power a five-run frame that carried the Wolves in the second semifinal.

Trailing 3-1 entering the seventh, Eagle River sent 10 batters to the plate and seven straight reached base as the Wolves improved to 10-4 in the tournament over the last three years.

This will be the third straight year Eagle River will play for the Midseason Classic title, losing previously to Eugene (OR) in 2023 and Napoleon in 2022.

This game was tied 1-1 entering the bottom of the sixth inning before Kenai struck for a pair of runs that started with Andrew Pieh’s triple and ended with Trenton Ohnemus two-run single.

Kenai’s Jayden Stuyvesant knocked in the first run of the game in the first inning with an RBI single and Eagle River’s Liam Lierman tied it 1-1 with an RBI groundout in the third.

The Twins turned two double plays behind starter Matthew Shilling, who pitched into the seventh inning and left with the lead.

Kenai (10-8) loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the seventh after two singles and a walk. One run scored on a hit by pitch, triggering a call to the bullpen. Another run came home on Hunter Williams’ sac fly, making it 6-5.

The game ended when reliever Brooks Inch pounced off the mound to field a dribbler and fired a strike to first.

Eagle River 001 000 5 – 6 7 1
Kenai 100 002 2 – 5 6 0
Eagle River – J. Mullen, Rose (4), Roberts (7), Inch (7) and Roberts, J. Mullen. Kenai – Shilling, J. Joanis (7), Pieh (7) and Stuyvesant. SO – Mullen 5, Rose 4, Shilling 2, Pieh 1. 2B – Roberts (ER). 3B – Pieh (K). HR – None.

Napoleon 7, Chugiak 1

Lucas Gerken retired 15 of the final 16 batters en route to throwing a complete-game three-hitter to lead the River Bandits of Napoleon, Ohio, past the Mustangs in the first semifinal.

Five different Napoleon players knocked in runs, including Parker Woods, who went 2-for-3 with two runs and a stolen base. Nine-hole hitter Taysen Deckrosh had an RBI triple and made a diving catch in foul territory to end the game.

Center fielder Trey Rubinstein made the biggest defensive play of the game when he chased down Tyler Cage’s liner in the gap with the bases loaded with two outs.

Gerken gave up three hits and three walks while striking out six. His string of retiring 15 straight batters came to an end with two outs in the seventh after he walked pinch-hitter Michael Boudreau.

Chugiak relief pitcher Preston Rau threw three hitless innings with three strikeouts, bouncing back from a poor Day 2 showing.

Fischer Sims drove in his team’s lone run with a two-out RBI single in the second inning to score Luke Salle, who got the rally started with a single.

Chugiak 010 000 0 – 1 3 3
Napoleon 502 000 x – 7 6 0
Chugiak – Steckel, Rau (4) and Young. Napoleon – Gerken and Schaublin. SO – Gerken 6, Rau 3, Steckel 1. 2B – None. 3B – Deckrosh (N). HR – None.

Service 4, West 0

Rilen Niclai homered on the second pitch of the game and Jake Rafferty and Trey Maltby combined on a 2-hit shutout as the Cougars won the fourth-place game.

In the rain with no wind, Niclai pulled a fastball down the left-field wall that stayed fair by maybe six feet. It was a moon shot that the rising junior muscled out of the park for his second home run of 2024 at the big yard.

Rafferty started and retired nine of the 11 batters he faced while Maltby closed it out with the final four frames. These pitchers get it done in much different ways, with Rafferty being all power and Maltby being about precision. Effective either way.

Besides Niclai’s nuke, the Service offense mustered meager results against West hurlers Evan Fitzgerald and Jack Hazelwood. They too were effective, with half of the runs being unearned.

Service stole nine bases and drew six walks to put plenty of runners in scoring position but failed to get the big hit to break it open. Credit the Eagles, especially Fitzgerald and Hazelwood.

West’s Paul Dittrich rapped out both of his team’s hits, his second two-hit game in four tournament games.

Service 201 010 0 – 4 3 1
West 000 000 0 – 0 2 3
Service – Rafferty, Trey Maltby (4) and Martindale. West – Fitzgerald, Hazelwood (6) and Baylous. SO – Rafferty 5, Fitzgerald 5, Hazelwood 1. 2B – None. 3B – None. HR – R. Niclai (S).