Playing in front of crowds that include numerous college coaches and Major League scouts, the Alaska Baseball Academy is 2-1 after two days at the Arizona Senior Fall Classic.
The Alaskans beat Team California 4-1 Friday at the Peoria Arizona Sports Complex. On Thursday, they beat a team from Canada and lost to a team from California.
More than 400 college coaches and 100 MLB scouts attend the annual tournament. About two dozen watched Friday's victory, while Thursday's two games drew about 25 coaches and 20 scouts, Academy coach Tony Wylie said in an email.
Three players -- Juneau's Bryce Swofford, South's Jonny Homza and Ketchikan's Nathan Bonck – "are getting tons of interest from both prospective colleges and MLB representatives," Wylie said via email.
Homza struck out six in four scoreless innings and added a single in Friday's win over Team California. Nolan Monaghan of Wasilla also threw four strong innings, giving up one run on two hits.
Wasilla's Noah Alexander fueled the Alaska offense with a single and three stolen bases, bringing his total to five steals in three games.
In Thursday's first game, Homza hit a pair of doubles, drove in a run and scored a run in a 4-3 win over Canada.
Swofford, a 6-foot-7 pitcher, earned the win while giving up two runs in three innings. Monaghan hit a two-run single and Alexander contributed a hit, a run and two stolen bases.
In their second game, the Alaskans lost 4-1 to the SoCal Bombers.
Alaska was limited to four hits but got strong pitching efforts from South's Tommy Koloski, who struck out six in four innings, and Bonck, who had eight strikeouts and no walks in three innings.
The Alaska Baseball Academy team features Alaska's top high school and American Legion baseball players.
MLB coaches to work with Alaskans
A pair of Houston Astros baseball coaches will come to Alaska next month to provide instruction at clinics in Anchorage, Fairbanks and the Valley.
Brent Strom, the pitching coach for the Astros and a former Major Leaguer, is chief instructor for the Professional Baseball Clinic.
He and Ralph Dickenson, an assistant hitting coach for Houston, will work at three camps during a five-day span in Alaska.
The first clinic is Nov. 11 in Wasilla, followed by a Nov. 13-15 clinic in Anchorage and a Nov. 16 clinic in Fairbanks.
Players can register at alaskalegion.com.