Knights, Warriors part of loaded Division I state baseball field

Just call it the tournament of champions.

Six of the eight teams competing in this week’s ASAA Division I state baseball tournament have combined to win 17 of the 20 all-time state titles.

Southeast powers Juneau-Douglas and Sitka, along with Anchorage juggernaut South, have won 14 by themselves.

The holy trinity of Alaska high school baseball is together at the state tournament for the first time since 2017.

The fabulous field also includes 2019 state champion Wasilla and Mid-Alaska Conference champion Colony. There is also Eagle River, Dimond and Chugiak from the Cook Inlet Conference.

“You can’t overlook anyone,” said Colony coach Jordan Chadwell.

It’s been hard to ignore the Knights, who are back at the state tournament for the seventh time in Chadwell’s nine seasons as head coach.

The Knights advanced to the final four in 2013, 2014 and 2018, but are still looking for their first trip to the championship game.

Colony slugger Kaden Ketchum comes into the tournament with a state-best .682 batting average and 33 RBIs.

Hitting is crucial, but pitching is still king in a tournament where one loss can knock you out of the running for a state title.

Expect lots of aces to be dealt.

“You need to pitch your best guys,” Chadwell said, “and everyone on the team needs to play their best game. One bad game and you’re done.”

Juneau is back at state for a record 17th time. The Crimson Bears are the all-time leader in tournament wins with 27, four more than Sitka (23) and seven more than South (20).

The Crimson Bears are coached by Chad Bentz, who led Juneau to a state title in 2018.

The stacked field doesn’t faze Bentz because he expects every elimination game at state to be a battle.

“The goal for the team is to play their game, and if they do that, I'm confident that they'll put themselves in a good opportunity to win the game,” Bentz said. “Does that always happen? No, but that's baseball and that's why it's the best sport out there.”

Juneau pitcher Garrett Bryant earlier this year struck out 15 batters in one game, the second highest total since 2018 when Alaska’s pitch count era began.

The Crimson Bears have other guys, too.

“Fortunately, we have a lot of pitching,” said Bentz, a former MLB pitcher with the Expos and Marlins.

“With a single-elimination tournament, we have to put out our best every game. We would never expect to beat a team and not put out our best nine.”

The state tournament is loaded with an array of awesome arms.

South pitcher Isaac Johnson brings a 17.1-inning scoreless streak into the state tournament, and Dimond’s Garrett Lick just had his 18.2-inning scoreless streak snapped at the CIC Tournament. Chugiak’s Camden Costanios and Sitka’s Nik Calhoun each have an impressive strikeouts-per-inning ratio. Costanios has 37 Ks in 22.2 innings and Calhoun has 35 Ks in 26.1 innings.

In terms of hitting, the top batting averages belong to Ketchum (.682), Dimond's Zach Jenkins (.533), Colony's Brayden Parrent (.500), South's Oliver Brown (.475), Eagle River's Cam Witte (.471) and Wasilla’s Jacob Hansen (.444).

There isn’t a team from Fairbanks at the state tournament for the first time in two decades.

When ASAA split baseball into two divisions – D1 for large school and D2 for small schools – the qualifying format changed.

The two Mat-Su Valley schools combined with West Valley and Lathrop in Fairbanks in the Mid-Alaska Conference, which had two berths to state.

The Cook Inlet Conference got three berths and the Southeast Conference got two berths. An at-large berth was added for the first time, leaving the eighth spot in the hands of the ASAA selection committee. Chugiak won the at-large berth this year, giving the CIC a record four teams in the field.

Here is a closer look at each of the eight D1 teams chasing a state title:

Team: Chugiak Mustangs

League: Cook Inlet Conference

Head Coach: John Sims, 1st year

2021 Record: 7-7

Top Hitters: Hunter Rau (.314 AVG, 10 RBI), Zach Cole (.300 AVG, .467 SLG), Camden Costanios (.281 AVG, 18 SB)

Top Pitchers: Camden Costanios (22.2 IP, 37 K), Gabe Gruszynski (15.2 IP), Zach Cole (11.2 IP)

Famous Alum: Joey Clark – MLB draft pick in 1999 who pitched collegiately at Southern Idaho and threw a no-hitter in high school.

All-Time State Titles: 1

All-Time State Record: 14-8

Team: Colony Knights

League: Mid-Alaska Conference

Head Coach: Jordan Chadwell, 9th year

2021 Record: 12-2

Top Hitters: Kaden Ketchum (.682 AVG, 33 RBI), Brayden Parrent (.500 AVG, 22 RBI), Ben Alley (.438 AVG, 13 RBI)

Top Pitchers: Ben Alley (19 IP, 31 K), Brayden Methven (14.2 IP, 17 K), Evan Walker (11.1 IP, 2.48 ERA)

Famous Alum: Ben Ross – Alaska’s No. 2 all-time college career home runs leader with 18 bombs at Corban and Blue Mountain from 2015 to 2019.

All-Time State Titles: 0

All-Time State Record: 9-18

Team: Dimond Lynx

League: Cook Inlet Conference

Head Coach: Jeremiah Eneix, 1st year

2021 Record: 12-2

Top Hitters: Zach Jenkins (.533 AVG, 21 R), Logan Sweet (.378 AVG, 15 RBI), Miah Eneix (.367 AVG, 11 RBI)

Top Pitchers: Garrett Lick (24 IP, 0.29 ERA), Luke Smith (18.1 IP, 1.52 ERA), Miah Eneix (14.1 IP, 25 K)

Famous Alum: Brian Montalbo – Highest MLB draft pick from Alaska as a fourth rounder in 2000 and former Pac-12 starter at California.

All-Time State Titles: 1

All-Time State Record: 9-6

Team: Eagle River Wolves

League: Cook Inlet Conference

Head Coach: Bill Lierman, 1st year

2021 Record: 10-4

Top Hitters: Cam Witte (.471 AVG, 19 R), Gavin Henning (.424 AVG, 12 RBI), Josh Thompson (.321 AVG, 17 R)

Top Pitchers: Cam Witte (15 IP, 21 K), Noah Lower (14 IP, 2.14 ERA), Luke Barch (12 IP, 0.00 ERA)

Famous Alum: Michael Rosenberg – Former CIC Gold Glove winner who went on to play at the Coast Guard Academy.

All-Time State Titles: 0

All-Time State Record: 0-2

Team: Juneau-Douglas Crimson Bears

League: Southeast Conference

Head Coach: Chad Bentz, 3rd year

2021 Record: 13-2

Top Hitters: Not Available

Top Pitchers: Garrett Bryant (15 Ks in one game)

Famous Alum: Chad Bentz – Seventh-round draft pick out of Long Beach State became Alaska’s second MLB player in 2004 and once struck out first-ballot Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr.

All-Time State Titles: 6

All-Time State Record: 27-14

Team: Sitka Wolves

League: Southeast Conference

Head Coach: Kenny Carley, 3rd season

2021 Record: 13-6

Top Hitters: Eman Barragan (.383 AVG, 22 RBI), Bridger Bird (.351 AVG, 11 R), Trevin Carley (.340 AVG, 15 RBI)

Top Pitchers: Nik Calhoun (26.1 IP, 35 K), Eman Barragan (24 IP, 2.33 ERA), Grady Smith (18.1 IP, 1.52 ERA)

Famous Alum: Matt Way – Fourth-highest MLB draft pick from Alaska in 2009 and All-Pac-12 pitcher who still holds Washington State’s single-season strikeout record.

All-Time State Titles: 5

All-Time State Record: 23-5

Team: South Wolverines

League: Cook Inlet Conference

Head Coach: Taylor Nerland, 6th year

2021 Record: 14-0

Top Hitters: Oliver Brown (.475 AVG, 19 RBI), Dylan Maltby (.438 AVG, 15 RBI), Lucas Wilkins (.407 AVG, 9 RBI)

Top Pitchers: Isaac Johnson (26 IP, 38 K), Ryan Watson (11 IP, 0.64 ERA), Reece Ivanoff (8.2 IP, 0.81 ERA)

Famous Alum: Jonny Homza – Second-highest MLB draft pick from Alaska who was moved from infield to catcher and currently plays for Class High-A Fort Wayne in the Padres organization.

All-Time State Titles: 3

All-Time State Record: 20-7

Team: Wasilla Warriors

League: Mid-Alaska Conference

Head Coach: Ken Ottinger, 6th year

2021 Record: 16-5

Top Hitters: Jacob Hansen (.444 AVG, 17 RBI), Andre Brown (.429 AVG, 26 R), Wyatt Walling (.316 AVG, 24 RBI)

Top Pitchers: Dayton Greer (24.1 IP, 26 K), Jacob Hansen (13.2 IP), Alex Prayner (12.1 IP, 20 K)

Famous Alum: Roy Friesen – MLB draft pick in 2003 out of Columbia Basin. Played a season of rookie ball in the Marlins organization.

All-Time State Titles: 1

All-Time State Record: 12-5