By KLAS STOLPE
Sentinel Staff Writer
Sitka’s Little League Major All-Stars’ three 12-year-old co-captains led their team to the Little League Alaska District 2 Majors Baseball All-Stars tournament championship Sunday at Moller Field, defeating Juneau’s Gastineau Channel team 4-0.
Co-captain Chance Coleman pitched a complete game one-hitter, including a hitless streak through five innings. He earned the win by throwing just 66 pitches and striking out 10 batters with no walks.
“I just wanted to win it,” Coleman said. “All three years I’ve gone to this same tournament we have come out either second or third. I just wanted to win it this last year for our team. We needed all of us to win. It didn’t take one person. The infield had great plays, the outfield had great catches. It was all a team win.”
The top of the first inning saw Sitka second baseman Josh McAlpin field a ground ball for an out, Coleman strike out a batter, and shortstop co-captain Bryce Calhoun field another ground ball out.
Sitka then came to bat and put 3 runs across as co-captain Emmit Johnson hit a one-out single and stole second, Coleman reached on a hard ground ball error scoring Johnson, Coleman stole third, Caleb Calhoun singled to score Coleman, and C. Calhoun scored on a passed ball.
Juneau did get a runner on base in the top of the second inning. After Coleman struck out the lead batter he hit Juneau’s Madden Mendoza with a pitch, but pinch runner Hudson Hunt got caught off base, was pursued in a rundown by C. Calhoun, McAlpin, and B. Calhoun and tagged out by Coleman. Coleman then struck out the third out.
The Little League Alaska District 2 Majors (10-12 year old) Baseball All-Stars champions Sitka. Standing, from left: coach Rich McAlpin, Mason McLeod, coach Ryne Calhoun, Caleb Calhoun, Trey Johnson, Bryce Calhoun, Emmit Johnson, Evan Grant, coach Bob Calhoun, Brett Ross, Kai Hirai, Rawl Weathers, and Samson Smith. Kneeling: Josh McAlpin, Josh Gluth, and Chance Coleman. Sitka defeated Juneau’s Gastineau Channel Little League 4-0 on Sunday at Moller Field and will host Eagle River’s Knik Little League for the state tournament series starting Friday.
(Sentinel Photo by Klas Stolpe)
In the top of the third inning Coleman plunked Juneau batter Tyler Fick with a one-out pitch but second baseman McAlpin fielded a ground ball by Juneau’s Owen Woodruff and shuffled it to shortstop B. Calhoun covering the base, who threw on to first for a double play to end the inning.
“That double play saved me,” Coleman said. “Great plays like that get us all happy and excited and we start hitting the ball better.”
Coleman struck out the Juneau side in the top of the fifth inning.
“It was pretty exciting to watch him pitch,” catcher E. Johnson said. “I didn’t really have any doubts. I knew we could pull it off.”
Sitka put their fourth and final run across in the bottom of the fifth inning as all three co-captains participated.
Bryce Calhoun hit a one-out double to left field, advanced on E. Johnson’s single, and a walk to Coleman, and then scored on a walk earned by Samson Smith.
“It was really cool and really exciting,” B. Calhoun said. “Last year we didn’t get to win it, but this year we do it in our own town so that’s pretty cool. Our defense was key.”
Coleman gave up a lead-off single to centerfield by Juneau’s Reed Maier in the top of the sixth inning then struck out the next batter. The second out was a fly ball to center fielder Smith and Coleman fielded the game-winning ground ball and threw to first baseman C. Calhoun to end the game.
Coleman and Smith had 1 RBI apiece; E. Johnson had 2 hits, B. Calhoun and Coleman 1 apiece; B. Calhoun, E. Johnson, Coleman, and C. Calhoun scored 1 run apiece; Coleman walked twice and Smith once.
Juneau’s Christian Nelson pitched 4.1 innings (82 P, 4 H, 4 R, 7 SO, 1 BB) and Maier 0.2 (12 P, 2 BB).
Sitka coach Ryne Calhoun said the key was the kids’ just playing like they know how to.
“These are a super-talented group of kids,” he said. “In high school they’re going to be studs too. A team full of kids that want it, want to play, they play hard, and they are just awesome to coach. The key is the kids and how they play.”
After the roster was selected, the team practiced daily, sometimes with two-a-day conditioning sessions that included weight training.
“These guys have worked hard for three weeks,” Sitka manager Rich McAlpin said. “Some of it was two a days. We’ve been going to Jared Rivera’s gym and doing some conditioning there. The hard work paid off. Juneau gave us a good run, they’re a good solid team over there, but we hung together. This is just one part of our journey. We still got state. We just have to be ready on Friday.”
Sitka will host Eagle River’s Knik Little League at Moller Field in a best 3-of-5 series for the Little League Alaska State Majors Baseball All-Stars Championship, beginning Friday at 6 p.m.
District 2 Tournament Recap:
Juneau defeated Ketchikan 12-2 in Thursday’s opening double elimination game.
Sitka defeated Juneau 9-3 in Friday’s semifinal as pitcher B. Calhoun kept the Juneau hitters off balance through 4.1 innings, leaving the mound with a 9-0 lead. Bryce threw just 48 pitches and had 3 strikeouts with just 1 walk. Sitka first baseman C. Calhoun had a standout game with four quality put-outs on errant throws from his fielders that stifled Juneau rallies early in the game and kept the lead intact. Offensively, Sitka scored 2 runs in the first inning as E. Johnson and Coleman both disrupted the base paths to score on a passed ball. They added 5 runs in the second inning with the bases loaded as Coleman walked to score Brett Ross, C. Calhoun walked to score Josh Gluth, and T. Johnson ripped a double into left field to score E. Johnson, Coleman, and C. Calhoun. Their final 2 runs came in the top of the third as C. Calhoun hit a blooper scoring Evan Grant, and Kai Hirai walked, scoring B. Calhoun. Closer T. Johnson came on one out into the fifth inning and finished the game with 28 pitches (4 hits, 3 runs). Juneau scored 1 run in the bottom of the fifth as Ethan Lewis sacrificed in R. Fick, and 2 runs in the bottom of the sixth as Hunter Carte singled in N. Fick, and R. Fick singled in Ezra Vidal.
Juneau then eliminated Ketchikan on Saturday by the score of 11-1. Ketchikan scored the first run of the game in the top of the first inning as Juneau pitching loaded the bases and Jayden Greenfield was hit by a pitch to score Jesse Albecker. Juneau put 1 run across in the first and second bottoms and then 9 runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to win by the run rule, 11-1. Marcus Mendoza started on the mound for Juneau (1.2 IP, 40 P, 1 R, 1 SO, 2 BB) and Woodruff relieved (3.1 IP, 53 P, 1 H, 6 SO, 2 BB). Woodruff also led with 2 RBI; N. Fick and Nelson led with 2 runs apiece. Juneau left 6 runners on base, Ketchikan 8. Ketchkan’s Cash Larson took the loss in a fine performance (4.2 IP, 112 P, 4 H, 4 SO, 8 BB).
