The fledgling Eagle River High School baseball program is making waves at the varsity level, winning two of three games last week on area fields.
The Wolves won games at Klatt Field, beating West High School 7-6 May 17 and Service High School 5-4 May 14, reported coach Ken Wooster.
Eagle River did suffer a 9-1 loss to South Anchorage High School at Mulcahy Stadium Saturday.
The Wolves had stellar pitching from recent graduate Lane Gray in relief as the hard-throwing right-hander recorded saves in both victories.
Tendering a 7-5 lead over West, Gray came in with the bases loaded and one out in the top of the seventh and provided damage control, yielding one run but preserving the win for freshman middle-inning reliever Gus Ortiz.
Eagle River had only four hits, but made the most of their limited opportunities, with several walks, a couple of errors by West and a triple from junior Stephen Schuessler.
In their 5-4 win over Service, the Wolves broke open a 2-2 game with three runs in the bottom of the fifth, helped again by timely hits, including a double from senior Jack Pearce. Junior pitcher Andy Moore threw six innings before yielding the mound to Gray in the seventh, after Service had drawn to within one run with two runs in the top of the sixth.
Eagle River had a decent night at the plate on the big field at Mulcahy Stadium Saturday with nine hits but had few runs to show for it, losing 9-1 to the South Anchorage Wolverines. Gray pitched four innings, giving up three runs and taking the loss on the hill. The team had one of their better games in the field, however, committing only one error against South.
The Wolves have three games this week, playing Service Tuesday, South Anchorage, 6:30 p.m. tonight at Klatt Field and West, 5:15 p.m. at Mulcahy Stadium Saturday.
Reach the reporter at news@alaskastar.com.
