Juneau Post 25 on Monday ended a two-game losing skid to Wasilla Post 35 (29-7) to stay alive at the American Legion state tournament in Anchorage.
After accounting for half of his team’s runs in a win over Kenai Post 20 on Sunday, Gabe Storie was once again instrumental in the Midnight Suns’ success on Monday. Storie pitched a complete game, scattering five hits in a 6-0 victory, while going 2-for-4 at the plate. It was the first scoreless outing of the season for the Wasilla, which had won seven of its eight previous contests, including 4-3 and 11-6 wins over Juneau.
[Live: Juneau takes on No. 1 seed at Legion state tournament]
Juneau (27-5) played South Post 4 (20-11) on Tuesday afternoon for the right to face Wasilla in the state championship game immediately afterwards. Wasilla earned an automatic berth to the state championship game after starting the tournament 3-0; Juneau and South each went 2-1.
The Midnight Suns have won the last two American Legion state championships. Their win on Monday marked their 13th state tournament victory in the last three years, having won five games in each of the past two tournaments.
In this tournament, Wasilla edged Dimond 7-5 in the first round, South 6-5 in the second round and West 6-5 in the third round. Juneau coach Joe Tompkins said on Friday his team was confident they could hang with Wasilla.
• Contact sports reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nainsworth@juneauempire.com. Follow Empire Sports on Twitter at @akempiresports.
