The Eagle River Wolves used an aluminum bat to break through a glass ceiling Sunday.

Despite having two teams get close in recent years, the state of Alaska had never won an American Legion baseball regional tournament before Eagle River made history under a beautiful bluebird sky in Roseburg, Oregon.

The Wolves beat Gallatin Valley 5-0 in the Northwest Class A Regional Tournament championship game at Bill Gray Stadium to cap the five-day tournament with a 5-0 record, including two victories over the 46-win Outlaws out of Montana.

Liam Lierman struck out 11 batters in five innings to earn his second win of the tournament and bag MVP honors for the Wolves (31-9).

The hard-throwing southpaw was lights out, and wildly effective. He recorded his first nine outs on Ks and but also left eight runners on base through three innings. He did settle down nicely to retire the final seven batters he faced before leaving after 100 pitches and giving way to reliever Dalton Smith in a non-save situation.

In two NWCART appearances on the mound, Lierman (6-2) racked up 20 strikeouts and a 0.00 ERA in nine innings. He also batted .500 on 7-of-14 hitting with nine walks, eight runs and six RBIs.

His run-scoring single in the third inning extended the lead to 3-0 and gave him 53 RBIs for the season, the most for an Alaska Legion player in a decade.

Lierman, a rising senior, has put together a player-of-the-decade type resume in his three seasons with the Wolves. He took home NWCART MVP honors and the Tony Wylie Big Stick Award from the state tournament this year, threw a no-hitter in the state title game and earned the Top Pitcher Award in 2023, and won the Midseason Classic Big Stick Award in 2022.

He’s been the centerpiece for a team that’s compiled a three-year record of 86-31, including 20-5 in the postseason, and won two state titles and a regional championship. Veterans like Dallin Roberts, Alex Mullen, Killian Johannes and Smith have been there as well.

But it stops and starts with Lierman. He is the team’s ace and guy the Wolves turn to for in big games. He pitched Wednesday on Day 1 of the NWCART and struck out nine batters in four innings, exiting early enough for him to come back five days later.

The lean lefty with high socks was a towering figure on the hill, twisting batters into a puzzle with a beautiful blend of heaters and curveballs. The Outlaws didn’t know what was coming and barreled up just one pitch, a two-out single to straightaway center field in the third inning.

Other than that, the only time Lierman got in trouble was when he walked batters. He faced eight over the minimum through three innings and then retired the Outlaws in order in the final two frames.

Eagle River outscored opponents 39-12 in the first four games of the tournament to advance to the final in comfortable fashion. Title games are typically tight, however, and require execution and small ball, which is the Wolves’ specialty.

In the first inning, a leadoff single and bunt single led to a run. In the third, the Alaskans executed two sac bunts and bunted over another runner in the fourth.

Lierman left with the Wolves leading 5-0 and was replaced by Smith, who worked around two walks in the sixth and saw center fielder Gunner Mountcastle make a nice running catch for the first out of the inning. In the seventh, they turned a double play to erase a leadoff walk.

Brooks Inch and Jack Mullen each had two RBIs for Eagle River, which beat six Lower 48 teams this season, one more than Service for the most in the state.

Inch finished 3-for-3 at the plate with two infield singles, each one plating a run. Mullen had a two-out, two-run single in the fifth, when the Wolves started to sense they were close to making history.

Gallatin Valley starter Marcus Holen went the whole way for the Outlaws, scattering 11 hits and striking out just one. He wasn’t overpowering but effective and got three double plays behind him and his catcher threw out a base runner.

This was the second time the Montana team had reached the NWCART title game in the last four years.

NWCART wins vs. Lower 48
5 – Bill Lierman, Eagle River
5 – Willie Paul, Service
4 – Ken Ottinger, Wasilla
3 – Andy Macauley, Juneau
2 – Vic Aure, Fairbanks
2 – Russ Baker, South
1 – Chris Williams, South

For Alaska, this was the third time in the last five years the state got a team to the final. In 2019, Layton, Utah, beat Wasilla 6-0. In 2023, Redmond, Oregon, beat Service 8-6. The Last Frontier has sent its state runner-up to the NWCART annually since 1999. The state champion goes to the Northwest Regional, which serves as a qualifier for the Legion World Series.

The Northwest Regional is comprised of mostly Triple-A teams that draw from four to six high schools while NWCART teams draw players from small schools and smaller areas like Eagle River. It’s a more balanced playing field, which is why Alaska teams have collected 22 wins at the NWCART in 25 years compared to 20 wins in 72 years at the Northwest Regional.

Alaska’s recent success at the NWCART – coupled with Service’s historic two-run run at this year’s Northwest Regional – represents a turning of the tide. No longer seen as an easy draw, Alaska teams are catching up to its neighbors to the south.

In 2009, Fairbanks was the first Alaska team to win two games at the NWCART. In 2013, South went 2-2 and averaged 12.7 runs per game. Then Wasilla and Service each won three games and advanced to title games, pulling up Alaska more before Eagle River put the state on top for the first time.

Gallatin Valley 000 000 0 – 0 3 0
Eagle River 102 020 x – 5 11 0
Gallatin Valley – Holen and Diefenderfer. Eagle River – Lierman, Smith (6) and Roberts. W – Lierman (6-2). L – Holen. SO – Lierman 11, Holen 1. LOB – Gallatin Valley 11, Eagle River 5. SACB – Roberts (ER), Mountcastle (ER), R. Mullen (ER). 2B – R. Mullen (ER). 3B – None. HR – None. RBI – Molloy (ER) 2, Inch (ER) 2, Lierman (ER) 1. DP – Gallatin Valley 3, Eagle River 1.