They say defense wins championships in football, but on the baseball field pitching is king.

The Emerald Challengers from Eugene, Oregon reigned supreme during the four-day Alaska 529 Midseason Classic as their staff held opponents to 1.13 runs per game and Sunday night’s championship game against Eagle River followed the same script.

Starter Carter Greene pitched a 2-hitter and went the distance in a 4-1 victory at Mulcahy Stadium as the Challengers became the first team from Oregon to win the 27-year tournament.

Greene allowed one run in the second inning before shutting it down with five consecutive scoreless frames to earn the win and help Eugene extend to 23 its winning streak, which includes a 7-0 record in Alaska.

The Challengers went 5-0 in the Midseason Classic, outscoring opponents 45-5. Both games against Eagle River were close, with the Challengers winning 1-0 on Collin Hernandez’s no-hitter on Day 2 and 4-1 in the championship game behind Greene.

Pitching carried Eugene during the week as the Challengers carved up batters across 31 innings. The title game was no different. Greene didn’t allow a runner to reach second base in each of the final five frames and retired the final eight batters.

Besides Hernandez and Greene, the Challengers got solid pitching as well from Kaden Starr (5IP, 1R), Kyle Miller (5IP, 2R), Aiden Hazen (4IP, 1R) and relievers Eli Crist (2IP, 0R) and Alejandro Ziolkowski (1IP, 0R).

Anchored by a no-hitter, Eugene’s staff may have been the best in tournament history. We thought it was Napoleon, Ohio, which last year went 5-0 and posted a 1.65 team ERA. That pitching staff was led by Luke Krouse, who lost his bid for a perfect game against Service with one out in the seventh inning.

But Eugene’s dominant performance may have topped Napoleon.

Eugene (23-1) took command of Sunday’s title game in the third inning to break a 1-1 tie after Nate Cook delivered the big hit with a two-out, two-run single. Eugene’s Peyton Tyner and Brock Johnson each banged out three hits, including singles in the go-ahead rally in the third to build a 4-1 lead.

The three-run deficit seemed like a steep hill to climb for the Wolves, who plated a run in the second inning to snap an 11.2-inning scoreless streak against Eugene dating back to last year.

These teams have faced off three times since last summer with the Challengers taking all three: 8-7, 1-0 and 4-1.

Eagle River pitchers scattered 10 hits and one walk. Starter Liam Lierman went 4.2 innings and allowed all four runs with seven strikeouts and reliver Charlie Wallace pitched the final 1.1 innings.

Lierman, the best left-handed pitcher in Alaska and reigning CIC MVP, danced around trouble from the start. He struck out Cook with two runners on to end the first, left a runner stranded on third base in the second and got out of the fourth inning thanks to a double play. He ran out of gas in the fifth, leaving the game after hitting Cook with a pitch to load the bases.

Wallace got a comebacker to end the fifth and then worked around a couple base runners in the sixth, including a perfect bunt by Johnson.

Eagle River managed only two singles against Greene, in the second by Alex Mullen (who came around to score the lone run on a wild pitch) and another by Jack Molloy with one out in the fourth. Lierman drew two walks and first baseman Tommy Molloy drew a base on balls and saved a run in the second when he picked a low throw to end the inning with a runner on third.

Individual Awards

MVP
Eli Crist, Eugene Challengers
On a roster stacked with big-time players, this guy made the biggest impact. He batted .333 with five RBIs, including one in the title game to get the party started in the first inning. He was big in the box and on the bump. When his team needed him to close out a 5-2 win over Dimond, he did just that, sealing the deal with a 6-out save.

Big Stick
Alex Mullen, Eagle River Wolves
Hitting in the cleanup spot, his job is to drive in runs and that’s exactly what he did this weekend, batting .385 and matching the tournament lead with 7 RBIs. He was consistent, too, knocking in a run or scoring a run in four out of five games.

Top Pitcher
Collin Hernandez, Eugene Challengers
This smooth southpaw sure knows how to make a first impression in Alaska. He made a historic performance on Day 2 after throwing the third no-hitter in the tournament’s 27-year history. And he did it with style points, racking up 12 strikeouts.

Gold Glove
Dallin Roberts, Eagle River Wolves
A workhorse behind the plate, he is more fundamental than flash, but that’s what you want in a catcher. He also played second base and left field. He did the little things – and the big things like zero errors in 33 innings.

Alaska 529 Midseason Classic
Title Games
2023 Eugene (OR) d. Eagle River (AK) 4-1
2022 Napoleon (OH) d. Eagle River (AK) 11-8
2021 No Tournament
2020 No Tournament
2019 Napoleon (OH) d. Auburn (RI) 12-1
2018 South (AK) d. Excelsior (MN) 4-0
2017 Walla Walla (WA) d. Dimond (AK) 9-4
2016 Columbia (TN) d. Kenai (AK) 7-1
2015 Castroville (TX) d. Dimond (AK) 10-0
2014 Columbia (TN) d. South (AK) 5-0
2013 Napoleon (OH) d. Texarkana (TX) 7-6
2012 Columbia (TN) d. Dimond (AK) 7-3
2011 Napoleon (OH) d. Dimond (AK) 11-3
2010 Dimond (AK) d. Fairbanks (AK) 3-2
2009 Chugiak (AK) d. Service (AK) 5-3
2008 Fairfield (CA) d. Napoleon (OH) 3-1
2007 Chugiak (AK) d. Excelsior (MN) 11-6
2006 tie, Tuscaloosa (AL) vs. Dothan (AL) rain
2005 Niwot (CO) d. East (AK) 7-4
2004 West Warwick (RI) d. Chugiak (AK) 13-6
2003 San Francisco (CA) d. Glen Cove (NY) 7-4
2002 Phoenix (AZ) d. Meridian (ID) 9-6
2001 West Warwick (RI) d. Gig Harbor (WA) 3-2
2000 Lewiston (ID) d. Frasier Valley (CAN) 5-2
1999 Service (AK) d. Dimond (AK) 13-5
1998 Tacoma (WA) d. Vancouver (WA) 7-5
1997 Chugiak (AK) d. Service (AK) 5-4
1996 Yakima (WA) d. Compton (CA) 12-2
1995 Kennewick (WA) d. Chugiak (AK) 5-4

Semifinals

Eugene (OR) 13, Lower Columbia (WA) 1
Kaden Starr sparkled, and the Challengers used an 11-run fourth inning to trigger the mercy rule in this five-inning victory in the first semifinal to punch their ticket to the title game. Starr faced runners at second and third two batters into the game after a single, walk and passed ball. Kolten Lindstrom then grounded out to drive in a run and that was really the extent of the damage as Starr immediately stopped the bleeding. He struck out seven and ended the game by inducing a 4-6-3 double play. The right-hander is bound for the University of Portland, where he will be teammates with Anchorage’s Curtis Hebert. In the third inning, Adam Elliott tripled and came on Brock Johnson’s RBI single to make it 2-1 and it looked like we’d have a good game. The fourth inning changed that. That’s when the Challengers sent 16 batters to the plate, banged out seven hits and three doubles, hit a sac fly and drew three walks in addition to benefiting from a balk, two errors and a catcher’s interference call. Lower Columbia used four pitchers to get through the nightmare inning. Deker Bartell went 2-for-3 for his team’s only two hits and scored its only run; he was also summoned to the mound to end the fourth. Eugene extended to 22 its winning streak and improved to 6-0 on its Alaska road trip. This was just the second loss for Lower Columbia in 11 games. These teams will meet again Monday in the first round of the 3-day Todd Ryan Memorial Tournament that will conclude Wednesday in Wasilla.

Semifinals

Eagle River 11, Chugiak 1
Ryan Mullen set the tone after leading off the game with a single, stealing second and scoring on Liam Lierman’s RBI base knock that got the Wolves rolling in the right direction in winning the semifinal game in five innings over archrivals. Eagle River scored twice in the first inning and added another in the second to build a quick 3-0 lead. Gunner Mountcastle made it stick with three scoreless frames on his way to making a quality 4-inning, 1-run start. He picked off a runner in the first inning and ended each of the second and third innings with groundballs to second. Mountcastle also went 2-for-2, leading off the second with a triple and knocking in a run during the Wolves’ seven-run fifth inning that triggered the mercy rule. Ryan Mullen finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two stolen bases, while Alex Mullen rapped out a two-run double in the fifth. Tommy Molloy closed it out with a scoreless inning. Chugiak’s Landon Luebke went 2-for-3 and Hunter Rau drove in the long run. Twice the Mustangs got a runner to third base without scoring. On the flip side, they did turn two double plays on a liner to second baseman Gabe Gruszynski in the third and a 6-4-3 to end the fourth.