Nobody was more relieved to see Juneau’s Hunter Carte complete his no-hitter on Saturday than Auke Bay Post 25 teammate Madden Mendoza.

Carte made history in the capital city after throwing a no-hitter against East to headline a 10-0 American Legion Baseball victory at Adair-Kennedy Park, extending the six-game winning streak by the Midnight Suns.

The right-handed ace walked four batters and struck out seven en route to recording the seventh Legion no-hitter since the pitch count was adopted in 2018.

With two outs in the seventh and fast approaching his 105-pitch count limit, Carte induced a ground ball to Mendoza at shortstop. Would this end the no-no? No. An error extended the game and brought Owen Butcher to the plate. Most likely facing his final batter, Carte closed it out with a strikeout looking on his 105th pitch.

The last Legion no-no came from Service’s Kolby Jensen in 2024. Before that, the previous four had been combined no-hitters, including two by the Auke Bay staff in 2023, when the Crimson Bears no-hit Ketchikan and East on consecutive days at the Matson Invitational.

This no-hitter was contested by the East dugout, which scored a play in the sixth inning as a base hit for Yeralvin Ramirez that was scored an error by the scorekeeper in Juneau. There was no video on GameChanger.

In 2023, Auke Bay’s Marcus Mendoza, Liam Hart, Porter Nelson and Bodhi Nelson combined for an unconventional no-no in a 9-2 victory over East after walking 13 batters and giving up two runs. Two days later, though, Garrison Luben and Landon Simonson combined to no-hit Southeast rival Ketchikan in a 4-0 win.

By sweeping Saturday’s doubleheader, Auke Bay extended its winning streak to six games and retained sole possession of first place in the Legion standings with nine days left in the regular season.

American Legion Baseball

TEAM	LEAGUE	GB
Auke Bay	10-2	–
Chugiak	8-3	1.5
South	8-3	1.5
Service	7-3	2.0
Kenai	7-4	2.5
Palmer	7-4	2.5
Wasilla	7-4	2.5
Fairbanks	5-4	3.5
Ketchikan	6-6	4.0
Dimond	5-6	4.5
East	4-10	7.0
West	3-9	7.0
Chena River	0-9	8.5
Eagle River	1-11	9.0

Each team plays 16 league games
Upcoming Games
Sunday
East vs. Auke Bay, 1pm, Adair-Kennedy
Wasilla vs. West, 2pm, Bartlett
Service vs. Eagle River, 5pm, Loretta French
South vs. Chugiak, 5pm, Oberg
Monday
Dimond vs. Chugiak, 6:30pm, Oberg
Palmer vs. Eagle River, 6:30pm, Loretta French
Tuesday
South vs. Service, 6:30pm, Bartlett

Carte’s no-hitter was buoyed by an offense that benefitted from 12 free passes. Catcher Nate Fick went 2-for-3 with three RBIs, while Marcus and Madden Mendoza each had a sac fly.

In the first game, Auke Bay overcame a grand slam by East’s Wally Sherwood and rallied from a five-run deficit in the first inning to win 9-5.

Relief pitcher Marcus Mendoza pitched five scoreless innings and Carte knocked in a pair of runs and finished 3-for-5 at the plate.

Nine-hole hitter Jacob Katasse went 2-for-2 with a walk and two runs scored.

East took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a bases-loaded walk to Dylan Dumas. The next batter, Sherwood, then belted a blast over the fence in center field for a grand slam that made it 5-0.

Game 1
East 500 000 0 – 5 6 3
Auke Bay 252 000 x – 9 11 0
East – Ramirez, Pozo (2) and Frost. Auke Bay – Nelson, Mar. Mendoza (3) and N. Fick. 2B – Auke Bay: N. Fick. 3B – None. HR – East: Sherwood.
Game 2
Auke Bay 301 011 4 – 10 5 2
East 000 000 0 – 0 0 4
Auke Bay – Carte and N. Fick. East – Garsha, Reyes (2), Sherwood (6), Butcher (7) and Ramirez. 2B – None. 3B – None. HR – None.

Palmer 9, Wasilla 1

The only thing that stopped Timothy Bridgman on Saturday was the pitch count.

The right-handed struck out nine batters and got stronger as the game wore on before being lifted in the seventh inning after throwing 106 pitches at McManus Field. A player is allowed to finish the final batter and go over the 105 limit. Easton Cook registered the final out on four pitches.

After giving up an unearned run in the first inning, Bridgman settled down nicely to put up nothing but goose eggs the rest of the way before Easton Cook got the final out.

Bridgman was also banging in the box, driving in three runs and finishing 2-for-3.

Tristan Barrey went 2-for-4 with a double, RBI and two runs. Logan Garvin was 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs.

Wasilla’s Camden Mette was 2-for-3 and Kade Russell scored the lone run. Relief pitcher Ramon Guzman kept his team in the game, striking out nine in and allowing two earned runs in 5.1 innings.

Palmer 060 011 1 – 9 9 1
Wasilla 100 000 0 – 1 5 2
Palmer – Bridgman, Cook (7) and Beal. Wasilla – Johnson, Ra. Guzman (2) and Berta. 2B – Palmer: Barrey. 3B – None. HR – None.