Service head coach Willie Paul hands out compliments like hugs; in other words, never. But in 2022, he labeled a skinny, baby-faced infielder as a can’t-miss prospect to keep an eye on.

These days, you can’t keep your eyes off Rilen Niclai.

Now that his big brother is off to the Big Ten, the rising junior has seized the mantle as the best player in Alaska after his performance at this year’s American Legion baseball state tournament, winning MVP honors and leading the Cougars to their first championship since 2001.

On Thursday afternoon, Niclai went 2-for-3 with an RBI double and pitched the final three innings to earn the save as the top-seeded Cougars held off three-time defending state champion Eagle River 8-5 in the 72nd state title game at Mulcahy Stadium.

Not only was this the first championship for Service in 23 years, but it also snapped a four-game losing streak in title games under Paul dating back to 2016 and including each of the last two years. Niclai helped stopped the bleeding.

He singled on the first pitch of the game, walked and scored in the third inning and had a run-scoring double in the fifth. He went to the mound and closed it out for winner Jake Rafferty (6-1), who started and struck out seven batters but gave up five runs.

Rafferty chipped in an RBI in his team’s six-run third inning that saw the Cougars turn a three-run deficit into a three-run advantage. The 6-foot-4, 225-pound Rafferty hasn’t hit the ball that well this season, not for a guy who hit six home runs last Legion season, but nobody ever questioned his effort.

His RBI came on an infield single that the right-handed batter beat out after chopping one to third and hustling out of the box. To compound the problem for Eagle River, a hurried throw to try and get Rafferty skipped away from the first baseman and allowed two more runs to score.

Later, after the Wolves had pulled within 6-5, Service plated a pair of insurance runs after pinch-hitter Sebastian Fournier delivered a sac fly and Niclai doubled with two outs.

On the hill, Niclai struck out seven in three frames and got out of a bases loaded jam with a called third strike to end the fifth. He worked fast and threw BBs, mowing down the first two batters in the sixth and the final two in the seventh, capping his fine performance in style and lowering his season ERA to 0.38 in 18 innings. On his 16th birthday, no less.

Niclai finished the tournament hitting .429 with one home run, eight runs and a tournament-best eight RBIs to take home the Ron LaPorte MVP Award. He also had four scoreless innings and turned in the play of the tournament in the semifinals the night before when he hurdled the South catcher to avoid a tag at the plate and score the game’s first run to kickstart an 8-0 victory.

Service’s win extended its 18-game winning streak – tied for the third-longest in Alaska Legion history – while snapping Eagle River’s record 16-game state tournament winning streak dating back to 2021.

Service (29-5) advanced to the Northwest Regional on the road to the Legion World Series. The regional begins next week in Billings, Montana.

Eagle River (26-9), which hadn’t lost at state in three years, will represent Alaska in Roseburg, Oregon, at the Northwest Class A Regional – the tournament Service advanced to the title game of last year.

Service and Eagle River have been the two titans of the 15-team league over the last three seasons. They rank 1-2 in Alaska in victories during that time – Eagle River has 81, Service 80 – while Service’s .741 winning percentage ranks first with Eagle River second at .723.

The teams were also frontrunners during the high school season this spring, with the Cougars beating the Wolves in the Buddy Dale Invitational final, CIC Tournament final and state tournament final.

Between high school and Legion, this Service squad (which is comprised largely of the same group of players) has posted a 51-5-1 combined record – second only to the 54 games the 2019 Wasilla team won.

It used to be that Service teams couldn’t win championship games. Now it seems like they can’t lose, something that had been an issue for the Cougars at the Legion state tournament going back generations.

From 1986 to 2023, Service lost 10 of 12 state title games. And many members of this year’s team had suffered heartbreaking defeats in the previous two state finals, losing 4-3 to Eagle River in 2022 on a walk-off walk and losing 1-0 on Liam Lierman’s no-hitter in 2023.

That theme looked like it might continue early Thursday when the Wolves built a 3-0 lead behind RBIs from Lierman and Jack Mullen.

Lierman was on the mound and brought his 0.80 ERA with him. He looked sharp early, getting seven outs on 31 pitches. But everything fell apart in the third after Service got two base hits, drew five walks and benefited from a two-base throwing error that chased Lierman.

Service hit .300 as a team in five tournament games in addition to drawing 37 walks and stealing 16 bases, constantly putting opposing pitchers in the cement mixer.

Despite that, the Wolves dug deep and pulled within 6-5 after one run came across on a balk and another on Lierman’s run-scoring single for his state-best 47th RBI of the summer.

Lierman hit .500 in the tournament and drove in six runs to earn the Tony Wylie Big Stick Award. Wylie’s grandson, Service’s Kolby Jensen who threw a no-hitter in the semifinals, won the Top Pitcher Award. Eagle River shortstop Brooks Inch earned the Gold Glove Award.

Eagle River 003 200 0 – 5 8 3
Service 006 020 x – 8 6 0
Eagle River – Lierman, Inch (3), Smith (5) and Roberts. Service – Rafferty, R. Niclai (5) and Martindale. W – Rafferty. L – Lierman. SV – Niclai. SACB – Inch (ER), Mascelli (S). SF – Fournier (S), A. Hickman (S). 2B – Niclai (S). 3B – None. HR – None. RBI – Lierman (ER) 2, J. Mullen (ER) 2, Niclai (S) 1, Mascelli (S) 1, Rafferty (S) 1, Hickman (S) 1, Fournier (S) 1.