Correction: This article originally stated that Ketchikan would have faced JDHS in the title game if it wasn’t canceled. They would have face TMHS.
Thunder Mountain High School will head to the state tournament as the Region V champions.
They played the part with several wide-margin wins at the region tournament this weekend, but rain and wind precluded a title match: Alaska School Activities Association officials scrapped that idea Saturday morning after deeming conditions at Ketchikan’s Dudley Field too dangerous for play.
After 7-2 and 8-0 wins over Ketchikan and Sitka in the first two rounds, TMHS was ready to prove their championship bonifides in a Saturday title match. Coach John Boucher said they would have preferred to play, but he agreed with ASAA officials that field conditions were too dangerous.
“It was unsafe, extremely cold and windy. Not ideal softball conditions,” Boucher said.
Ketchikan was named the runner-up in the tournament and would have faced TMHS in the title game at 11 a.m. Saturday. Kayhi also earned a trip to the state tournament by finishing second, but not before a bit of controversy. In a Friday night losers bracket game between Sitka and Ketchikan, which would have decided who faced Thunder Mountain in the Saturday title game, a disputed call on a two-run Sitka home run was ultimately ruled in Ketchikan’s favor.
But that decision wasn’t made until after the game had already been played out, with Sitka winning by a one-run margin. After the call was overturned, the game was replayed from the moment of the third-inning homer. The second time around, Ketchikan triumphed.
JDHS had already been bounced from the tournament after losing their first two games.
Two Juneau-Douglas seniors and all five Falcons seniors were named for to the all-academic Region V team. Four TMHS players and two JDHS players made the all-conference team.
Thunder Mountain will head to the state tournament on Thursday as the two-time defending champs. They’re taking a moment to enjoy the Region V championship, Boucher said, and to celebrate their graduating seniors.
But after that, “We’re just excited and we have an opportunity to win our third straight state championship,” Boucher said.
Visit Juneauempire.com for more coverage of Region V games, including breakdowns of each game.
• Contact reporter Kevin Gullufsen at kgullufsen@juneauempire.com or 523-2228. Follow him on Twitter at @KevinGullufsen.
