If it seems that Selah all-league baseball player Braxton Young has been around for a decade, it’s only because he has.

Much of what the lanky junior recalls revolves around the Vikings, whom he became an associate of when he had barely started grade school and his older, Carter, was becoming one of the best players in program history, bookending his Selah career with Class 2A state championships.

“I’ve known him forever,” said Selah coach Mike Archer, who has guided the Vikings to the state final four 15 times with state titles in 2016 and 2019. “I’m sure Braxton had a good Wiffle Ball game going when Carter was playing.”

Braxton wasn’t only horsing around at Carlon Park. He also took in what his brother and teammates were doing and – more importantly – how they were doing it.

“His freshman year he won state and he won his senior year, too,” he said before a Memorial Day practice. “So, my earliest memories of Selah baseball were the state championships and the brotherhood that they had and that’s probably the best memories that I can have and that carries on.”

The 11th-seeded Viks (18-8) return to Bellingham’s Joe Martin Stadium this week, meeting No. 2 Tumwater (22-4) to open Friday’s semifinal quadruple-header at 10 a.m. Top-seeded Bainbridge (22-3) takes on 13th-seeded Orting (18-7) in the following game at 1.

That Selah, which finished fourth at state a year ago, is back in the semis with a lineup dotted with freshmen might be surprising to some outside the program. It’s the bloodlines, however, that pass on the tradition, whether that’s brother to brother, or, like several of the players – including a few of the freshmen – from father to son, that have the Vikings seeking their third championship in nine seasons.

“He’s been around it. He knows us and knows the expectations and how to go about things and since he has been a freshman he’s really settled in,” Archer said. “The big thing about Braxton is when he came into the program, he was very coachable and he was a listener and he would try to do what you said. He wasn’t a guy who came in with an ego.”

The importance of his ascension to not only the varsity lineup but also a spot on the all-CWAC second team as a ninth-grader was not lost on Young.

“It meant a lot, just putting in the work and trusting these guys to make me better,” he said. “I had a shorter period of time to get better, and (the coaches) pushed me and that helped me start my freshman year.”

Braxton’s still a mainstay for the Viks, whether that be batting No.2 in the lineup and manning shortstop, or taking the ball to pitch in the most crucial games or dire spots.

At the plate, his patience has helped spark a Selah offense that averages nearly eight runs per game, and has pushed across 10 or more runners in 11 games this season.

He has drawn more walks (10) than he has struck out (9), while driving in 20 runs and stealing 13 bases.

“We try to impress upon our hitters that great hitters take their walks; they’re not a great hitter if they’re chasing pitches,” Archer said. “The thing that’s funny about Braxton is he hits second for us, but he comes up and asks, ‘hey, can I drag,’ ‘hey, 

can I slash, can I have the option.’

“And that’s a very unselfish thing to do, but he’s not afraid to hit for the team.”

He’s also unfazed by the toughest mound assignments.

In the opener of a key CWAC doubleheader last month at East Valley, with the Vikings holding an 8-4 lead the bases full of Red Devils, Young came in to record three straight strikeouts, all of the batters looking.

Three weeks later, he pitched the Vikings into the state tournament by tossing a complete six-hitter in a 6-1 district semifinal victory against East Valley.

And Saturday, he threw five shutout innings against No. 6 Columbia River to open the tournament. Then followed that by retiring all four batters he faced to cap an 8-7 comeback victory against the third-seeded host and CWAC rival Othello to return the Vikings to the semifinals.

“He knows how to channel his adrenaline and not get too emotionally caught up in the moment,” Archer said. “Calm, poise and balance are so important in those situations, and he has that and that is how he goes about his job every day.”

That translates to Young being a leader, a role that has grown.

“It’s a good opportunity for me to step up,” he said. “I told the young guys early in the season they gotta buy in.”

No bravado needed, he’s just passing on the Viking way.

“He’s a quiet leader, but I’ve noticed around the ballpark and in practice he’ll say what he thinks,” the Hall of Fame coach said. “He’s not boisterous but he’ll make comments to players, ‘you need to do this,’ or, ‘we expect this’ and he just doesn’t do it loud in front of people.”