The Service Legion baseball team members were collectively named our Alaska Athletes of the Week after becoming the first Alaskan team to start 2-0 at Northwest Regions in its 72-year history of participation.
The Cougars beat Pocatello, Idaho, 8-5 and then Fort Collins, Colorado, 6-3 to advance to the semifinals for the first time in an event Alaska began competing at in 1955.
Service, who qualified by winning Alaska’s state Legion tournament, became just the second Alaska team after Juneau in 1983 to win two region tournament games.
Their bid to make the championship game ended when they gave up a late lead in their semifinal game against Eugene, Oregon.
Alaska had suffered through a 19-game losing streak at the World Series qualifier between 2009 and 2018.
Also receiving consideration:
- Jordyn Bruce – The Eagle River decathlete took bronze at the inaugural Women’s Decathlon Championships in Geneva, Ohio. The multi-event track and field athlete racked up a personal best 6,723 points – a 64-point improvement from last summer.
- Liam Lierman – The American Legion baseball player from Eagle River was named MVP of the Northwest Class A Regional Tournament after leading the Wolves to a 5-0 win over Gallatin Valley, Montana, in the championship game.
The Alaska Athlete of the Week is selected by a panel each Monday
Have a candidate in mind? Email us your nomination: info@alaskasportshall.org.
