After a slow start to high school sports back in the fall, things will wrap up with two state tournaments this week, the last and latest busy championship weekend of the school year.
Sixteen baseball teams and 12 softball teams will contend for state championships at Division I and Division II baseball and softball tournaments at various diamonds in Anchorage and Wasilla.
Softball champions will be crowned at Cartee Fields and baseball champions will be crowned at Mulcahy Stadium and the Wasilla High baseball field on Saturday. Play begins Thursday.
Wasilla will be the scene for the inaugural Division II state tournament for small schools. Grace Christian, Palmer, Soldotna, Homer, Kodiak, North Pole, Monroe and Petersburg will battle to become the first state champ in the new division.
At the Division I state tournament at Mulcahy Stadium, 2019 champion Wasilla is back and faces the undefeated South Wolverines in one of Thursday’s first-round games.
South is one of four Anchorage teams in the tournament, along with Dimond, Eagle River and Chugiak. Colony, Juneau and Sitka complete the field.
In softball, the 2019 Division I champion East Thunderbirds are back, but the 2019 Division II champion Sitka Wolves failed to qualify. Six teams in each division will compete in pool-play games Thursday, with bracket play beginning Friday.
Baseball championship games are at 3 p.m. Saturday in both tournaments.
For softball, the Division I title game is at 5 p.m. and the Division II title game is at 2:45 p.m., with if-necessary games to follow.
It’s the third straight weekend for state championships, following the state soccer and state track and field championships last weekend and the state wrestling championships the week before.
Last year’s baseball and softball championships were canceled because of COVID-19, which also derailed the football playoffs at the start of the 2020-21 school year. Some tournaments set to be held earlier in the school year, like wrestling, were postponed until this spring.
ASAA/First National Bank state tournaments
Division I baseball at Mulcahy Stadium
Thursday’s first-round games
10 a.m. — Colony vs. Chugiak
1 p.m. — Eagle River vs. Sitka
4 p.m. — South vs. Wasilla
7 p.m. — Dimond vs. Juneau
Division II baseball at Wasilla High
Thursday’s first-round games
10 a.m. — Soldotna vs. Monroe
1 p.m. — Kodiak vs. Homer
4 p.m. — North Pole vs. Petersburg
7 p.m. — Grace Christian vs. Palmer
Division I softball at Cartee Fields
Friday’s pool play
10 a.m. — Colony vs. Chugiak
12:15 p.m. — Chugiak vs. Dimond
12:15 p.m. — South vs. West Valley
2:45 p.m. — Dimond vs Colony
2:45 p.m. — East vs. West Valley
5 p.m. — East vs. South
Division II at Cartee Fields
Friday’s pool play
10 a.m. — Delta Junction vs. Ketchikan
10 a.m. — Homer vs. North Pole
12:15 p.m. — North Pole vs. Juneau
2:45 p.m. — Ketchikan vs. Kodiak
5 p.m. — Juneau vs. Homer
5 p.m. — Kodiak vs. Delta Junction