The start of the ASAA baseball and softball season is upon us, and with teams beginning to take the field, here’s a look back at last season as we turn to this year, with Interior teams beginning their 2025 seasons.
Baseball
The Interior’s high school baseball programs saw mixed results in the 2024 season. Starting in Division I, in the Railbelt Conference, West Valley emerged as the area’s top team, finishing second overall with a 12-7-2 record and a 2-1 mark in conference play.
The Wolfpack made a strong showing in the double-elimination Railbelt Conference Tournament. After dropping their opening game to Wasilla, they battled back to reach the championship round, ultimately falling to Colony High School.
Along with the conference tournament title, Colony finished atop the regular season conference standings as well. They finished the year with a 15-12 overall record.
Lathrop finished last in the four-team conference with a 1-12 overall record and 0-3 in conference play. They were bounced from the conference tournament with losses to Colony and West Valley.
The Wolfpack held the upper hand in local matchups, defeating Lathrop in all four meetings and adding a pair of wins over DII North Pole High School. They went on to earn a spot in the eight-team DI state tournament, where their season ended with losses to Sitka and Chugiak.
West Valley and Lathrop now turn their attention to the upcoming 2025 season.
The regular season will go through May with the ASAA Division I Baseball State Championship set for June 5-7 at Mulchay Stadium in Anchorage. Service High School is the defending state champion, as they defeated Sitka to take the title last year.
In DII, North Pole enters 2025 after a strong showing last year, where they posted a 13-7-2 record, including an undefeated 5-0 mark in the Mid Alaska Conference, a Mid Alaska Conference Tournament championship and a runner-up finish at the ASAA DII Baseball State Championship.
They controlled the conference with a run margin of 75 scored and 19 allowed in conference games, seeing them top the four team field. Other schools in the conference include Monroe Catholic, Delta and Hutchison.
The Rams also posted a winning record and a state tournament appearance, going 10-6-1 overall and 4-2 in conference. Delta (3-11 overall, 2-4 Mid Alaska) and Hutchison (2-13 overall, 0-5 Mid Alaska) rounded out the group.
Along with the previously mentioned runner-up finish at the state tournament for North Pole, Monroe Catholic and Delta also represented the Mid Alaska Conference, rounding out the field with seventh and eighth place finishes.
For the 2025 season, the schedule runs the same as DI, with the season going through May before the ASAA Division II State Championship takes place on June 5-7 at Coral Seymour Field in Kenai.
Softball
West Valley earned the Interior’s lone Division I state tournament appearance in softball. Despite entering the four-team Railbelt Conference Tournament as the fourth seed with an 0-3 conference record, the Wolfpack flipped the script – defeating top-seeded Lathrop and Colony to claim the conference tournament championship.
Both Lathrop and West Valley posted winning records in the regular season, with the Malemutes going 12-10-1 overall, and a 3-0 record in conference play to finish as the best Railbelt team in the regular season.
For the Wolfpack, they finished 14-9-1, but held the 0-3 mark in conference play, seeing them bring up the rear in the standings before their championship winning run at the tournament.
West Valley and Colony represented the Railbelt Conference at the ASAA DI Softball State Championship, with the Wolfpack posting a third-place finish and the Knights coming in fifth.
Despite going winless in conference play, the Wolfpack held the edge over the Malemutes in their head-to-head matchups.
West Valley went 2-1 against Lathrop, earning a non-conference regular season win and a victory in the opening round of the conference tournament. Their only loss came in the regular season conference matchup.
In Division II softball, Delta reigned supreme in the Railbelt Conference, finishing with a dominant 24-8 overall record and an undefeated 7-0 mark in conference play. The North Pole Patriots took second, ending the season at 9-25-1 overall and 1-3 in the conference.
Hutchison rounded out the standings, struggling to an 0-25-1 record with an 0-5 conference mark.
Both Delta and North Pole advanced to the ASAA Division II Softball State Championship. Delta secured a third-place finish, while North Pole took fifth, representing the Mid Alaska Conference at the tournament.
Sitka claimed the state title, defeating Kodiak 14-5 in the championship game.
The ASAA softball regular season runs concurrently with the baseball season, with both the Division I and Division II state tournaments scheduled for June 5–7 at Cartee Fields in Anchorage.
