Selah's Andrew Gonzalez, left, Kyle Fickes and Matt Snider celebrate after beating Cheney 12-4 in the Class 2A regionals May 22.   GORDON KING/Yakima Herald-Republic file

And chances are that Selah's baseball coach will look the person he's addressing straight in the eye when he states, "Don't bet against us in May."

Nor should Archer's declaration be construed as boasting, even though his Vikings have qualified for the state baseball tournament during 14 of his 15 seasons. They also have reached the final four six times in Class 3A and
three in Class 2A under Archer's watch.

His point is this: Selah's teams get better, and they get better because they practice hard and prepare well.

Witness this year's squad (21-3), which at 7 p.m. Friday -- weather-permitting -- will oppose R.A. Long (19-5) in a Class 2A semifinal in Yakima County Stadium. Chehalis (19-3) and Archbishop Murphy (21-3) will play at 4 p.m., with those winners meeting at 7 p.m. Saturday for the championship.

"This year we had to discover ourselves," Archer said. "We told the guys it's their season and they have to own it. It's not about last year."

Last year, riding the pitching and hitting of Jake Fife, the Viks were state runners-up. There were other key losses from that squad, and with only four seniors and no lock-down pitchers on an 18-player roster, it might have been
a down year.

Meaning for Selah, making perhaps only the round of 16.

"Yeah," Archer said, "I'd have to say this has been a pleasant surprise. It wasn't just the guys we lost last year, but the leadership they gave us."

Still, the Vikings were rolling along nicely until April 17, when they bused to Ellensburg and were bludgeoned 18-8 and 15-2 by the heavy-hitting Bulldogs.

"We hit a bump in the road," Archer said, "and to that point we had not been focused on what was important. After the Ellensburg doubleheader, the guys came back and started listening and paying attention to detail."

Four weeks later, in the CWAC district championship game against the team that outscored them by 23 runs in two prior games, the Viks won 9-4.

Counting ensuing state wins over Cheney and Pullman, Selah has won 10 straight.

It clearly helped that Trent Douglass has recovered from an ankle injury that bothered him through much of the season. Douglass' four-hitter with 12 strikeouts shut down Pullman 3-1 last Saturday at Davis Field, after which Kyle Fickes, backed by four homers, beat Cheney 12-4.

Archer said he has yet to decide whether the right-handed Douglass (5-1 with a 3.21 ERA) or lefty Fickes (8-2, 2.81), both juniors, will start Friday.

Whoever gets the nod will benefit from throwing to Matt Snider, a standout defender who's in his fourth year as a starting catcher.

"Matty's obviously been real solid," Archer said. "It starts for us by controlling the running games, and then our pitchers can throw tough pitches and get swings out of the zone without worrying about the ball getting past him."

Offensively, sophomore third baseman Andrew Gonzalez has hit .456 and right-fielder Kurt Lindemann, an all-leaguer last year as a freshman, has batted .443 with team highs of five homers and 37 RBI while senior first sacker Stephan Schmidt is at .434 with three long balls and 29 RBI.

"After the Ellensburg games," Archer said, "we started using a certain drill that helps guys hit the ball the other way. We'd been pulling off pitches and not keeping the barrel in the strike zone. Since then we've been much
better."

As the Vikings pretty much always are at this time of year. After all, it's May.

"I got a nice e-mail the other day from Gary Hatch," Archer said, referring to the Sehome coach who won titles in 2007 and 2009 by defeating Selah. "He said, 'seniors graduate, but tradition doesn't.' So we'll go into the weekend and see what happens."