Yakima Valley’s junior program stout on its own, will host AA state | Legion Baseball

One of the main reasons for the continued excellence of the Yakima Valley Pepsi Pak program is coaching stability.

It’s not just the several layers of bedrock in head coach Mike Archer’s 39 years at the helm. His brother Rob has 35 summers invested and hitting coach Mick Jansen has been on board for 24 seasons.

Nobody can match that. But the Pak’s junior program is quite solid in this key area as well.

Chris Keller, a 2001 graduate of Selah and former Pak, is in his 14th year as the head coach of the Yakima Valley Peppers, who last month were named host of Washington’s American Legion AA state tournament at the end of July.

“We had an idea it was in the works,” Keller said. “It’s definitely an exciting thing for the program, our field, and our community.”

At Carlon Park’s Archer Stadium, winning is perennial and the Pak’s success is mirrored in Keller’s program. With primarily sophomores and freshmen from Selah, West Valley and Ellensburg, the Peppers took a 27-4 record into Saturday’s second round at a tournament in Spokane. Last week they followed up winning their Brent Edwards Memorial tournament by taking three of four from the Kennewick Dusters in a key Central Washington League series.

“One through 15, these guys have been awesome,” Keller said. “This is a fun and competitive group, exactly what you hope to have in the summer. Guys play a variety of positions and give the team their best every day.”

Keller played for the Peppers, Pak and Selah and obviously embraces the core concepts of the spring and summer programs. If any further guidance is needed it’s not far away — Keller and Archer are both math teachers at Selah Middle School.

“It’s definitely the same approach — play aggressive, do things the right way, be consistent and disciplined,” said Keller, who is one of Archer’s assistants on Selah’s high school team. “My best memory of playing here in the summer was the relationships I built. We played a lot of baseball, worked hard at it and had fun along the way — that’s what we want for these kids.”

At his side is another Pak-to-the-bone product, Eric Hull, who was a 1998 Selah grad who reached the Major Leagues as a pitcher for the Dodgers. Hull is also Archer’s JV coach in the high school program.

Since taking over the Peppers in 2009, Keller has provided the ideal feeder system for the state’s premier Senior Legion program, which has won four AAA state championships in the last eight years, including the 2021 title. The Peppers have qualified for the AA state tournament in seven of the last eight seasons and reached the final four on four occasions, including winning the state title in 2014.

That was some year, 2014.

A day after the Pak won the AAA state title in Chehalis, the Peppers became the Valley’s first team to capture the AA championship in Spokane. Since the AA tournament was started in 1985, Yakima Valley remains the only Legion program to win both titles in the same year. In 2014, the Pak and Peppers were a combined 103-22.

Times have changed in Legion ball and never more so than this year as only 14 senior teams remain. There were 26 in 2014. All that’s left of the mighty Central Washington League, which produced seven of the last eight state champions, are the Pak and Yakima Pepsi Beetles.

Junior programs have always generated Legion’s biggest numbers, but the emergence of select teams and traveling squads has made a big impact here as well with 38 teams — half the total of a decade ago. Kennewick has two squads in the seven-team CWL, the Dusters and Phantoms, but the AAA Bandits dissolved this year for lack of turnout.

The Peppers and Phantoms are currently tied for the league lead at 14-2 and will have their four-game series on July 5-6. The AA state tournament was reduced to eight teams for the first time last year and the Peppers have a guaranteed spot as hosts.

“The (junior) numbers are down in the state for us, too, and it’s tough having just eight teams for state because we have a really tough league and always have,” Keller pointed out. “We had a good turnout this summer, considering we’re still coming back from COVID, and it’s great to have a good, competitive group with state here. The good thing about having eight teams is we can host all the games here.”

FRIDAY’S GAMES

At Spokane

Yakima Valley Peppers 9, Cheney 8. YV highlights: Justin Busey 3-3, 4 RBI; Reid Bala 2-4, 2 RBI; James Hull 1-4, 2 RBI; Evan Ancira 2-2, 2 runs, 2b.

Yakima Valley Peppers 10, Gonzaga Prep 5. YV highlights: Keaton Pitzer 2-3, RBI, run; James Hull 1-4, 2 RBI; Evan Ancira 3-4, 2 RBI, 3 runs; Jonathan Rominger 2-3, run; Anthony Renteria 2-3, RBI, run.