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Jun 09, 2025

Sitka baseball caps dominant season by snapping title drought with shutout of Service - Anchorage Daily News

Facing the reigning state champions and the recently crowned Gatorade Player of the Year, the Sitka baseball team didn’t blink or budge in the 2025 Division I state championship game at Mulcahy

Facing the reigning state champions and the recently crowned Gatorade Player of the Year, the Sitka baseball team didn’t blink or budge in the 2025 Division I state championship game at Mulcahy Stadium on Saturday night.

The Wolves didn’t surrender a run in their 7-0 victory over Service, capping off a dominant season in which they went undefeated against in-state competition and snapped an eight-year title drought.

“I saw this at the start of the year,” Sitka head coach Ken Carley said. “I kept telling them how good they are and what they could achieve if they played hard, and they pulled it off.”

He was the coach for the last Sitka team to hoist a state championship trophy, in 2017. Carley believes this year’s squad stands above the rest he has coached in the past in a particular aspect of the game that was key to their success all season, and especially against the Cougars with everything on the line.

“We have the best pitching staff we’ve ever had this year, and it showed this weekend,” Carley said. “Dominated on the mound.”

Senior pitcher Bryce Calhoun started the game and went the distance on the mound for the Wolves, recording eight strikeouts and only allowing one hit.

“He’s thrown five complete games this year,” Carley said. “There was no problem with leaving him out there. He doesn’t get rattled, he just keeps throwing strikes until it’s over.”

This win was especially meaningful and vindicating for Calhoun. He was the Wolves’ starting pitcher in their last state title appearance, when he was a freshman in 2022 and they were shut out 6-0 by South.

“It didn’t turn out well, last year I pitched against Service in the semifinals and it didn’t go well, so I was like, ‘This is my redemption game’ and I’ve gotta go out there and (I) was focused all day, and everything was working for me,” Calhoun said.

He credited his teammates in the infield with helping him “a ton” by making diving catches and other heads-up plays to preserve the shutout as it felt like “nothing could go wrong.”

“It felt great to keep on mowing people down and getting as many outs as I can,” Calhoun said.

After a scoreless first inning and a half, the Wolves drew first blood in the bottom of the second. They got it started with a two-run RBI double by Josh Gluth followed by an RBI double from Tyson Bartolaba. Brett Ross recorded the first of his two RBIs to put them up 4-0 heading into the third inning.

“Our mindset was that there was no doubt in our minds that we (were) going to win this game,” Ross said. “We put some runs together and (got) some timely hits.”

He got the scoring started in the bottom of the fourth inning with an RBI triple, which was enough to earn him player of the game honors.

“We’ve been looking at this year for a long time,” Ross said. “It’s been a long time coming ever since we were young. It’s unbelievable.”

Prior to the finals, the Wolves had only been able to muster a combined seven runs in their first two games before matching that total against the Cougars.

“We hadn’t had any offense until this game,” Carley said. “We had a good talk with them before this game and told them that ‘Now is the time to start hitting like we do back home,’ and they pulled that off.”

While his squad was the first Sitka baseball team to win a state title in several years, they were the second sports program from the school to be crowned champions. A few hours earlier, the Sitka softball team won a thriller over Soldotna in walk-off fashion in the Division II state finals.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Ross said. “That doesn’t usually happen, so it’s big and it’s fun we get to celebrate with them too.”

Players from the softball team began to trickle in during the baseball game and were met with cheers, applause and even a few standing ovations. The community support for both teams was strong, and afterward they all posed together for a joint team photo.

“I wish (state) was back home so everyone could see it, but I’m sure they were watching,” Carley said. “Baseball is huge in Sitka. It’s right up there with basketball. Sitka has always put out good teams, we’re a small town but we fight and we push through.”

Thursday-Saturday

At Mulcahy Stadium

Thursday

First round

Sitka 3, South, 1

Service 5, Juneau-Douglas 0

Colony 6, Dimond 1

Eagle River 10, Wasilla 0

Friday

Consolation

Dimond 9, South 4

Juneau-Douglas 5, Wasilla 4

Semifinals

Sitka 4, Colony 2

Service 6, Eagle River 2

Saturday

Fourth place

Dimond 10, Juneau-Douglas 7

Third place

Eagle River 11, Colony 6

Championship

Sitka 7, Service 0