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Juneau West and Ketchikan, the two best Major Division Little League teams in Southeast Alaska, squared off on Wednesday night at Miller Field in what quickly became a pitching duel.

At stake were more than just regional bragging rights. The game also would decide who heads to Anchorage on Friday to compete for the Alaska Little League title.

The game, which was held at Miller Field on Wednesday, turned out to be a pitching duel between two of the best young pitchers in Southeast Alaska: Juneau West's Tanner Petrie and Sitka's Joey Inman.

Juneau West edged out Sitka by a score of 2-1 in extra innings after speedy pinch runner Jeryd Schauwecker was able to steal home plate on a pitch that got away from Sitka's catcher.

Juneau travels to Anchorage tonight and will play its first game on Friday.

Petrie started on the mound and promptly struck out three Sitka batters in a row. He allowed only one run, two hits, and struck out 13 batters in six innings.

"The pitching was excellent on both sides," said Juneau West head coach John Grummett. "We knew coming in that Sitka was going to bring it all the way. It was a battle the whole way. I can't be more proud of this team. I've never had a group of kids that worked so hard."

Grummett called Petrie's repeat pitching performance against Sitka an "outstanding job" and credited relief pitcher RJ Markovich as being a key factor in the win.

"(Petrie) pitched against Sitka two days ago and came back and did it again," he said. "That's hard against a good team like Sitka. RJ Markovich ... has been the glue that has come in and kept us going when things looked dark. He stepped up every time we needed him this year."

Sitka's starting pitcher, Inman, was just as accurate by only allowing one run and one hit while striking out 10 batters in four innings of pitching.

With the game half over, Sitka was leading 1-0 and got two runners on base with no outs off a single by Sitka's Fish Erickson.

With the pressure on, Petrie struck out two more batters and threw out a Sitka runner as he was trying to advance to third base off a pop up grounder.

Juneau West needed a score in the fourth inning and Kellen Johansen drove in the only RBI for Juneau with a line drive single that tied the score at 1-1.

In the extra inning, Juneau West brought in Markovich to close out the game. Sitka threatened to break the game open by advancing runners to first and third base with two outs, but Markovich was able to retire the side by striking out the last batter.

Sitka's relief pitcher walked two batters in the final inning, leading to Juneau West being able to win the game off a stolen base.

Majors Tournament

Juneau East 5, Ketchikan 3

Last inning heroics by Travis Duvernay lifted Juneau East past Ketchikan 5-3 on Wednesday in the consolation game of Majors Division tournament held at Miller Field.

Ketchikan was dealt its second tough loss in as many days after being routed by Sitka 10-0 on Tuesday.

Ketchikan went into the sixth and final inning ahead 3-2 when Duverney connected with a pitch and batted in three runs to end the game.