With just one out waiting to be closed on Saturday, Sitka senior Bryce Compagno-Calhoun looked down from the pitcher’s mound toward senior catcher Tanner Steinson.
“It was, I don’t know, incredible, electric,” Compagno-Calhoun said. “I was getting really hyped when we had three outs left, now we were one away, and we had been working towards this all year and getting that final strike call, I mean, it was a great feeling and we were all ready to celebrate.”
The Sitka Wolves had just proved their 22-0 Alaska season (26-2-1 overall) was for real as they toppled the Service High School Cougars 7-0 to claim the ASAA/First National Bank Alaska Division I Baseball State Championship at Anchorage’s Mulchay Stadium.
“I think Brett (Ross) at second got to me first, “Compagno-Calhoun said. “I tossed my glove in the air, turned around, and Brett came from behind and hugged me, and yeah, then everyone just started jumping around.”
Compagno-Calhoun faced 25 batters, throwing 105 pitches — 66 for strikes — and allowed just one hit. He walked three and struck out eight, and his fielders took care of the 13 other outs needed.
“I’ve been envisioning this all through my high school career,” Compagno-Calhoun said. “You know, after getting second freshman year and then not having a good outing sophomore year, and then getting third last year, I was like, ‘This is our time,’ and I knew this team was really special, you know, going undefeated all through our season and then coming away with the championship to end my high school career. It’s just an amazing feeling.”
In the 2022 state tournament, Sitka lost to South in the championship game. Compagno-Calhoun had been a player of the game that tournament, then freshman Chance Coleman and graduate Dylan Marx were all-state selections. In 2023, they lost to Service by a run to open state play and placed sixth with then-sophomore Steinson an all-tournament selection. Last season Sitka lost 15-1 to Service in the state semifinal and settled for an 11-3 third-place win over South. Compagno-Calhoun, senior Mason McLeod and graduate Grady Smith earned state honors.
“Sitka baseball just has a good culture,” senior Tyson Bartolaba said. “We love baseball and we always have fans that follow us…We are so happy to do this for our town.”
On Saturday, the Wolves put the first runs of the game across in the bottom of the second inning as junior Caleb Calhoun hit a lead-off single to center field, Compagno-Calhoun reached on an error and senior Josh Gluth hit a one-out double to center scoring both. Bartolaba hit a two-out double to left field scoring Gluth and junior Brett Ross reached on a ground ball error by the Service shortstop scoring Bartolaba for 4-0.
“I’m feeling ecstatic,” Ross said. “It’s so fun. I don’t know if it has hit me yet, honestly, that what we did and the magnitude of what we did…That triple, I didn’t really feel anything on the swing, that was the good part, the one you hate the best you don’t really feel…When the last out went I just ran looking for Bryce…I’d just like to thank our fans for their support and let them know we did it for them.”
The Wolves added their final three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Josh McAlpin led off with a single, Ross hit a one-out triple scoring McAlpin and Coleman singled to left field scoring Ross for a 6-0 lead.
Steinson followed with a single to right field to advance Coleman to second and was replaced by junior courtesy runner Emmit Johnson. Compagno-Calhoun hit a two-out ground ball and reached on an error that scored Coleman for the 7-0 advantage.
“It is just surreal,” McAlpin said. “I’m happy for my team, happy for the seniors. It definitely means a lot for Sitka and for my family because my brother (Brayden Case) actually won state in 2014, so yeah, glad to repeat it…We knew they were a good team. They graduated some seniors, but they were still good. I guess you can’t just get overwhelmed by saying, ‘Oh they’re so good and better than us.’ You just can’t be in that mindset and I guess we weren’t. But to win state 7-0 is surreal.”
A lead-off walk to Service sophomore Casey Stoops in the top of the fifth led to nothing as Wolves fielders McAlpin at third base, Gluth at first base and C. Calhoun in center field call caught fly ball outs.
In the top of the sixth inning, Compagno-Calhoun struck out the first two batters and the third grounded to Ross at second who threw to Gluth at first.
Compagno-Calhoun closed the night by striking out the first batter in the top of the seventh inning, watched as pinch-hitting freshman Jazz Abad lifted a fly ball out to Bartolaba in left field and then struck out Service’s last hope.
“It just shows that Southeast actually has some power they don’t respect,” Sitka coach Ken Carley said. “They never give us anything here, we made a point today. They were a good team, but we outplayed them today. It is just amazing. Our pitchers dominated all season. I knew they had it in them, it was just a matter of us making plays behind our pitchers and then scoring runs and we were able to do that today. I couldn’t have done it without the help of coaches Bryn Calhoun, Ryne Calhoun, Nick Anderson, Michael Svenson. They are a big part of the team. We love baseball as a whole in Sitka. We are trying to do our town proud…We had more fans at that game and we’re not even from here.”
Fans got a chance not only to see dominant pitching, but athletic plays such as Ross diving for a pop-up fly ball for an out and stopping Service momentum, or Gluth and McAlpin handling the “hot corners” at first and third, and Coleman orchestrating the infield from shortstop.
Gluth led the Wolves with two RBI on Saturday, Ross, Coleman and Bartolaba added one each. Ross and Steinson led with two hits, and Coleman, C. Calhoun, Josh Gluth, McAlpin and Bartolaba one each. Ross, Coleman, C. Calhoun, B. Compagno-Calhoun, Gluth, McAlpin and Bartolaba scored one run each.
“All of it is pretty surreal,” Gluth said. “Going into the season I knew we had a pretty decent shot, but going through the regular season undefeated and coming up to state, we didn’t play the Anchorage teams this year in the regular seasons so we kind of didn’t really know what to expect going up here because we’ve only really played Ketchikan and Juneau. Once we got here it was pretty much just do your work and do your job. And I know it’s pretty crazy, but that’s the best way you can think to go out.”
The Wolves won the title with three strong pitching performances and catcher Steinson was behind the plate through them all and every pitch this season.
“Catching all these guys, we just got a connection,” Steinson said. “I mean, we bond on and off the field. I call the pitches and with Caleb (Calhoun) he kills them, he likes to throw his own game. He’s a confident pitcher. Bryce and Levi (Hodges), I don’t remember one time they shook me off on a pitch. We just all connect so well, I know what pitch they want to throw next…It comes from years of playing with each other. I’ve played with each of them our whole lives it feels like…This state championship is something I’m going to remember forever. It’s like I’ve wanted this more than anything we’ve done. My freshman year, Bryce got to pitch in the championship game against South while he was a freshman and he did awesome, but they were a good team and then this year he got his redemption and we beat South and he shut Service out.”
Steinson said the catching position is special, “because you get to stay in it the whole game. You throw pretty much more than the pitcher, you are in every play and, I mean, if you like action it’s a perfect spot.”
Sitka junior Caleb Calhoun was the first pitcher in action state, recording 15 strikeouts in a 3-1 win over South Anchorage on Thursday.
Calhoun threw 115 pitches, 70 for strikes, and faced 25 batters. He walked four and allowed just one run over seven innings, and his fielders put out the six outs that escaped his slider. Bartolaba hit a key single with two outs and the bases loaded in the fifth inning with the Wolves trailing 1-0. The hit scored Partido and McLeod for a 2-1 lead and Ross followed with a single to short that allowed Gluth to speed home for the 3-1 advantage that would hold. In that game Bartolaba led the Wolves with two RBI and Ross added one. Ross and C. Calhoun led with two hits apiece, B. Calhoun, McLeod and Bartolaba one hit each. Partido, McLeod and Gluth scored one run apiece.
“It’s really exciting to be with this group of guys,” C. Calhoun said. “It is exciting to see how the games can go for us and how we can play because we have this kind of good chemistry. We’ve been playing together for so long and we all know each other, we know how we play and all are capable of doing it.”
In Friday’s semifinal, the Wolves nipped Colony 4-2 with senior Levi Hodges going seven innings and striking out 14 batters. Hodges threw 124 pitches, 81 for strikes (4 H, 2 R, 1 BB). Of the 29 batters faced, the fielders took care of the seven outs Hodges did not put down. Sitka led early and never trailed. C. Calhoun had two RBI, Coleman and Steinson one apiece. McAlpin had two hits, Ross, C. Calhoun, McLeod and Josh Gluth one each. Ross, Coleman, McAlpin and Bartolaba scored one run each.
“It feels good to be one of three pitchers because we all worked hard to get the state championship,” Hodges said. “I’m glad we all pitched well. It is kind of hard to believe, it feels surreal that we won but we are happy we won…It feels good to see my teammates or the other pitchers do good because when it is my turn going out there I know I’m going to do good too because my teammates did and we support each other. I feel like we all kind of go out there with a good attitude and know we are going to try to play our best.”
Sitka placed third at state last season behind Service and Eagle River, falling in the semifinal to Service 15-1 and beating South 11-3 for third place. They opened with an 11-1 win over West Valley. The Wolves placed sixth at state in 2023 and were runner-up in 2022 to South.
“The buildup to high school and growing up through the years it was always in the back of your head,” Gluth said. “Starting as a freshman and going through the years and through a program thinking about winning a state championship for your high school is always the number one goal…I think growing up together had something to do with our chemistry, but we all have the same like mental agreement that everything is for the team. You can screw up, but you got to get your head back in it and it’s not a single-player game, everything goes through the team and it takes nine people to win a ball game, not one.”
When Saturday’s game ended, Gluth targeted one player first.
“I think I ran up to Bryce first, because he pitched the game,” Gluth said. “And it was all kind of crazy not giving up a run…but it was all a flash after…I don’t know. It’s been a long time coming but I’m glad it’s finally done and everything we’ve worked for has come up to this moment and it’s just crazy.”
Many of the Sitka roster had also been part of the Sitka Little League All-Star team that won regions, state and played into the Midwest Regionals in San Bernardino, California.
“One hell of a feeling,” Coleman said of Saturday’s championship. “We’ve been playing together since we were young. I was on that San Bernardino team and we won state in Little League, but everybody looks at that and is like, ‘Oh, it’s just Little League.’ But we knew then that we had quite the team going into high school. And we even said, ‘Oh, when we’re seniors we’re going to have the same team and hopefully win state.’ And, I mean, that’s what we did. So we’ve been playing together forever. A storybook ending to my high school career…hey, winning little league was fun but this feels much more, well I’m more proud of this one, winning the DI state championship is pretty cool.”
• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@juneauempire.com.
