Service baseball star Rilen Niclai is used to being mobbed by teammates in front of his dugout, but it’s usually after hitting a home run, not after scoring on an error.

But Friday was different. The Cougars had trailed 1-0 against starter Caleb Cooke through the first five frames, so Niclai’s run not only tied the game, but it also energized Service.

After that, the Cook Inlet Conference champs tacked on five more runs en route to posting a 6-3 victory over Dimond in the semifinals of the ASAA Division I state tournament at Mulcahy Stadium.

Credit Cooke for shutting down the Cougars until the sixth, when Niclai led off with a walk, stole second base, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on an error on a snap tag – all in the span of three pitches to Kegan Lennox.

Niclai – a two-time Gatorade Alaska Player of the Year – has been held hitless in two games at the state tournament to drop his season batting average to .509. He also made an error in the field on Friday. But when it mattered most, he stood up.

After falling behind 0-2, Niclai, who hasn’t struck out in 77 plate appearances this season, worked an eight-pitch walk. After a pick-off attempt, he swiped second base and moments later scored after two Lynx miscues to tie the game. It flipped the momentum like a switch.

Niclai roared his approval as he was greeted by teammates with high fives and hugs. The unequivocal straw that stirs the drink for the Cougars, the team follows his lead and his playmaking skills led the team back to the state title game for a fourth straight year.

Then, Lennox singled and came around to score after three straight walks to put Service ahead for good. Lennox started on the mound and was locked in a pitcher’s duel with Cooke, who threw five scoreless innings.

Cooke also scored the game’s first run after the Dimond leadoff man walked, stole second base and scored on Jaden Estigo’s RBI single to center.

The score stayed that way for a while, thanks to a Dimond’s defense that chopped down a runner at third base after a outfield assist from Rowan Leathard and cut down another runner at home.

Lennox the lefty threw out a runner at the plate on a straight steal attempt to go with six Ks in 4.1 innings. He was one of three Service players to have a hit and score a run, joining Noah Cummings and Braun Precosky.

Precosky closed it out on the bump, throwing final 2.2 innings and picking up the win in relief.

Estigo finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs and Rowan Leathard was 2-for-3 with a run scored. The Lynx got two runs back in the top of the seventh and brought the tying run to the plate to take this game down to the wire.

Despite being outscored 22-5 in two previous meetings against the Cougs, Dimond played with confidence and controlled most of the game, led by Cooke, last fall’s starting quarterback on the football team, who is one of the most competitive athletes in Anchorage. The bulldog southpaw held Service to 0-for-5 hitting with runners in scoring position going into the sixth.

This was Dimond’s first appearance in the state semifinals since 2011.

When the current coaching staff took over, the Lynx had fallen on hard times with zero state berths in a decade. In the last two years, however, Dimond has qualified for the state playoffs each season and won three of five games at the big dance going into Saturday’s third-place game against West Valley.

Dimond 100 000 2 – 3 5 1
Service 000 006 x – 6 6 1
Dimond – Cooke, Severson (6) and Faapouli. Service – Lennox, Precosky (5) and Kosaka. W – Precosky. L – Cooke. 2B – Dimond: Leathard. 3B – None. HR – None.

Juneau 11, West Valley 1

You might know him as Chris Anderson, but in some circles, he’s known as Mr. Postseason.

Anderson continued his playoff heater in Friday’s semifinals after he banged out a pair of two-run singles to highlight the team’s seven-hit attack.

The left fielder finished with four RBIs to help the Crimson Bears punch their return ticket back to the state title game for the first time since 2018.

In four postseason games, Anderson is batting .500 on 5-for-10 hitting as he’s raised his average 60 points in two weeks. He’s now hitting .310 in 16 games.

He delivered two-run singles in each of the first and fourth innings to help Juneau build a big lead.

Then he took the mound and struck out four batters while shutting down the Wolfpack and picking up a winning decision.

Tyler Kookesh went 2-for-2 with a double, single and two walks for Juneau (15-2).

The capital city crew took advantage of West Valley’s starter not finding the zone in the first inning as he walked six of the first eight hitters, followed by Anderson’s run-scoring single that made it 5-0.

West Valley’s Wyatt Otness went 2-for-2 with an RBI and one scoreless inning of relief.

This was the Wolfpack’s first appearance in the final four since 2015.

Juneau-Douglas 611 30 – 11 7 1
West Valley 100 00 – 1 5 1
Juneau – Mar. Mendoza, Anderson (4), Huff (5) and N. Fick. West Valley – Powell, Witt (1), Otness (4), Wixom (5) and Gray. W – Anderson. L – Mar. Mendoza. 2B – Juneau: Bengenyi, Kookesh. 3B – None. HR – None.

Prep Baseball

ASAA/First National Bank Alaska
Division I State Tournament
At Mulcahy Stadium
FRIDAY
Semifinals
Juneau 11, West Valley 1
Service 6, Dimond 3
Elimination Games
South 8, Colony 0
Soldotna 7, Palmer 3
SATURDAY
Title Game
4:30pm Juneau (15-2) vs. Service (20-2)
Third Place
1:30pm West Valley (13-7) vs. Dimond (15-9)
Fourth Place
11:00am South (16-6) vs. Soldotna (15-5)

South 8, Colony 0

In an elimination game, David Feigner threw a 6-hit shutout and the Wolverines improved to 17-0 all-time against the Knights.

South scored four runs in the first inning and got two RBIs apiece from Cody Moore, Caleb Bonin and Kyler Jensen.

Colony’s Hayden Sherman and Easton Cook each went 2-for-3 at the plate and three pitchers combined to strike out 10 South batters.

Colony 000 000 0 – 0 6 0
South Anchorage 400 220 x – 8 7 0
Colony – Wood, Sommer (2), Sherrer (5) and Varland. South – Feigner and Bonin, Zuspan. W – Feigner. L – Wood. 2B – None. 3B – None. HR – None.

Soldotna 7, Palmer 3

In an elimination game, pitchers Jett Brophy and Samuel Graham employed a bend-don’t-break style, scattering seven hits and one walk but allowing just three runs in this all-Railbelt Conference matchup.

Last year, these teams were playing at the Division II level. Now they are among eight D1 teams playing for all the marbles.

Soldotna’s leadoff man Malakai BeDunnah went 2-for-4 with an RBI, Jayden Stuyvesant was 1-for-4 with an RBI and Samuel Graham and Eli Richards both knocked in runs.

Richards also made a nice catch in left field in the seventh inning. Both catchers – Wyatt Beal and Jackson Koetitz – threw out base runners.

Palmer’s Tristan Barrey went 3-for-3 and Logan Garvin’s two-run single in the fourth inning pulled the Moose within 3-2.

Palmer 000 200 1 – 3 9 3
Soldotna 120 004 x – 7 5 4
Palmer – Barrey, Craner (6), Meals (6) and Beal. Soldotna – Brophy, Graham (6) and Koetitz. W – Brophy. L – Barrey. 2B – Soldotna: Brophy. 3B – None. HR – None.