The final state championships of the school year will be crowned this weekend in Anchorage and Palmer.
A pair of titles are at stake in the two-day state softball tournament that runs Friday and Saturday at Cartee Fields in Anchorage and the state baseball championship is up for grabs at the three-day tournament at Hermon Brothers Field in Palmer.
And if past results can predict the future, keep an eye on teams from Southeast Alaska.
Juneau is the defending state champ in both baseball and large-schools softball and Sitka is the defending champ in small-schools softball.
The Crimson Bears have dominated in both baseball and softball and will try to continue their string of success in both sports.
Juneau's baseball team, which faces South today at 4 p.m., has played in six of 11 title games since Alaska began crowning high school state champs back in 2000. The Crimson Bears, the top seeds from Southeast, have claimed two of the last three state titles and four since 2000.
Juneau's softball team is even more dominant. The Crimson Bears have won three of the last four state titles and five of the last seven. Juneau has played in 11 of the 15 state title games and has won seven of them, including last year's, an 11-0 trouncing of 2009 champion East.
Juneau opens defense of its softball crown Friday at 11 a.m. against West.
That game is one of 10 large-school games that day at Cartee Fields, which will also be the scene of six small-school games Friday. Sitka, which along with Homer will receive a first-round bye, opens defense of its title at 1 p.m.
Sitka and fellow Southeast school Ketchikan have ruled softball since the small-schools division was created in 2005. Since then, at least one of those schools has played in the championship game -- and in the last two years, both have made it to the title game. Sitka beat Ketchikan 6-3 to take last year's championship and Ketchikan beat Sitka 5-4 to win it the year before.
State baseball
Hermon Brothers Field, Palmer
Thursday
10 a.m. -- Kodiak vs. Lathrop
1 p.m. -- West Valley vs. Soldotna
4 p.m. -- Juneau vs. South
7 p.m. -- Dimond vs. Sitka
State softball
Cartee Fields, Anchorage
Large schools
Friday
First round
9 a.m. -- East vs. West Valley; Chugiak vs. Lathrop
11 a.m. -- Juneau vs. West; Dimond vs. Colony
Losers bracket
1 p.m. -- East-West Valley loser vs. Juneau-West loser; Chugiak-Lathrop loser vs. Dimond-Colony loser
Winners bracket
3 p.m. -- Juneau-West winner vs. East-West Valley winner; Dimond-Colony winner vs. Chugiak-Lathrop winner
Small schools
Friday
First round
9 a.m. -- Soldotna vs. Eielson; Monroe vs. Ketchikan
Winners bracket
1 p.m. -- Sitka vs. Soldotna-Eielson winner; Homer vs. Monroe-Ketchikan winner
Losers bracket
Two games at 3 p.m.
Past State Champions
Baseball
Year School Runner-Up Score
2010 Juneau Dimond 9-7
2009 Dimond Chugiak 4-1
2008 Juneau Sitka 9-2
2007 Sitka Juneau 6-2
2006 Sitka Chugiak 8-3
2005 Sitka Homer 9-6 (14 innings)
2004 Kodiak Chugiak 3-2 (8 innings)
2003 Juneau Bartlett 7-3
2002 Juneau Lathrop 9-3
2001 Service Wasilla 20-8
2000 East Juneau 3-1
Softball
Large schools
Year Champion Runner-up Score
2010 Juneau East 11-0
2009 East Chugiak 13-3
2008 Juneau Bartlett 10-0
2007 Juneau North Pole 11-8
2006 Eagle River Juneau 4-2
2005 Juneau Lathrop 10-0
2004 Juneau Chugiak 3-1
2003 Chugiak Juneau 7-1
2002 Juneau Service 6-4
2001 Service Chugiak 8-7 (8 inn.)
2000 Service Chugiak 11-0
1999 Juneau Service 8-4 (8 inn.)
1998 Chugiak Juneau 12-2
1997 Service Chugiak 3-1
1996 Service Juneau 3-2
Small schools
Year Champion Runner-up Score
2010 Sitka Ketchikan 6-3
2009 Ketchikan Sitka 5-4
2008 Kodiak Ketchikan 15-0
2007 Ketchikan Homer 16-10
2006 Homer Ketchikan 7-2
2005 Sitka Monroe Catholic 7-0
Anchorage Daily News
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