The last time an Air Academy baseball team won a state championship was 30 years ago in 1989, the same year that the world wide web was invented.

The new head coach, Brandon Buchanan (or “Buck”) is trying to turn this losing streak around. He came from coaching at Saint Mary’s, as well as a short stint with college baseball. In a recent interview with The Gazette, when asked about his outlook on the team he mentioned “depth” and included that “(it) adds a lot of competition between the players.”

Check out The Gazette’s article here.

The AAHS baseball program is very happy with the results this year, going 12-10. The team doubled their win total from last year while playing one of the hardest schedules in the state. “Going into the playoffs (the team) is playing their best baseball,” says Buchanan.

The baseball program isn’t just worried about on-field performance. They have also implemented the idea of team and school pride.

On some Saturdays, the boys clean up a field that is littered with Juul pods and Burger King bags. After the cleanup, Coach Buck said, “If you could just get your friends to stop trashing this field we wouldn’t have to be out here every week.” This is drilling the idea of pride and accountability into the player’s minds.

When questioning players about the season, they all had positives to add even though the pre-season consisted of the players waking up at 4 am to practice and lift after school.

Everybody was complaining then but the players seem to appreciate being pushed hard. “The weight room has benefited me in more than one way, on the field and also gave me good relationships with players and coaches,” said Jack Brady.

Not only were the boys trained to be physically tough, but they were trained to be mentally tough.

“Our team did well in the way we approached other teams and not letting them beat us down before we started,” recalled Gabe Talbot.

The credit belongs to the C-Squad coach Ron Gorr. He is a varsity level coach so the newer boys got the chance to pick up baseball tips from him.

Looking past this current season, the future looks bright. The players and coaches are both ecstatic.

“I’m looking forward to the new coaches becoming more experienced with the program and taking us to the state title,” said Josh Kates.

Coach Buck seems to be the most optimistic of all, though, stating, “This first year was just the beginning… Yeah, a winning record, double-digit wins, an improved record from last year, and a trip to the playoffs is great and all but there is more… It’s about creating a culture, that everyone wants to be a part of, and continuing to set the high standard of being apart of AAHS baseball.”

When asking specifically about the younger guys, he said, “I love the younger guys throughout the program and look to them to lead this next part of the journey in the coming years.”

With a great coaching staff and players eager to bring back a state championship to the school there is a promising future ahead.