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‘Our boys did it!’ Crimson Bears are baseball state champions
- Klas Stolpe
- Jun 6
- 13 min read
Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé defeats Service 5-4 for Alaska crown
By Klas Stolpe
Juneau Independent
In their youthful careers, they developed a love for the game. In their final high school season, they formed a lifetime bond of brotherhood. And on Saturday, in their last game wearing the school colors of Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé, the Crimson Bears cemented their legacy as the best high school baseball team in Alaska.
JDHS defeated the Service Cougars 5-4 in Anchorage’s Mulcahy Stadium for the Alaska School Activities Association state baseball title.
“Our boys…our boys…did it,” said JDHS head coach Luke Adams, overwhelmed with emotions, his sunglasses betraying small tear drops.
“I’m crying,” he said. “I’m just proud. Just proud.”
After some moments he said, “Just believing in this group and hopefully showing them that we had the belief from day one. They just had to find it in themselves and believe in each other, and they did…man…they deserve it, they earned it. I am happy to just be a part of it, even on the sidelines, all these coaches and players…We talked about it. You don’t play a state championship for a ring, you save it for a memory…and now they have a huge memory.”
When Service went down one, two, three in the top of the seventh inning, JDHS senior first baseman Riley Fick ran toward closing senior pitcher Marcus Mendoza and jumped into his arms, then found another player, and another and the team jumped together on the field.
“Great group of guys,” R. Fick said. He was awarded the ASAA Player of the Game honor. “We fought until the end and we won. That is what we wanted to do from day one of practice, so it is nice to see it finally happen…I am just happy we won. Stressful game. I talked to their bench, not a lot of their guys fly fish, but we won and I am stoked about that…To win this with my brother is the coolest feeling ever. We have been playing since we were young and it feels good to finally win the state championship.”
JDHS senior catcher Nate Fick dumped a bucket of ice water on his celebrating brother.
“I mean…Wow…We have been working all year to win state — and we won state,” N. Fick said. “So this is the best feeling I have ever had in baseball. It is great to see my brother, Riley, come through, our whole team was doing really amazing. It is just a great feeling. It was really just a surreal feeling, looking at our last run coming across, I was, ‘We are going to win this game, with two outs, we could really win this thing.’ So it is just a surreal feeling. I have never felt anything like it.”
That moment featured senior Tyler Frisby (Kookesh) being hit by a one-out pitch in the bottom of the sixth inning, advancing to third base on a Marcus Mendoza single and scoring on a wild pitch for the 5-4 lead. Two outs followed and JDHS needed to hold off one of Alaska’s toughest-hitting teams in their final at-bat.
Nate Fick described the last pitches he called for senior reliever Marcus Mendoza in the top of the seventh inning. Mendoza had relieved junior starter Hunter Carte midway through the fourth inning and handcuffed the Cougars.
“I was just thinking to just have him rip it into the zone,” N. Fick said. “Tried to get the last one to be a punch out, but it worked out. We got a fly ball, got three outs.”
In Service's final at-bat in the top of the seventh inning, Mendoza threw hard. Service senior Braun Precosky put a fly ball to left field and, like so many days of JDHS practice, senior Chris Andersen settled under it for one away.
Service junior Casey Stoops lifted a long fly ball to center field and Frisby (Kookesh) easily caressed it in his glove.
Service senior Palmer Dalton took a strike and a ball before lifting the next pitch back to Frisby (Kookesh) in center field and the ball would spend the rest of the night with the senior all-star. A piece of history that will be in his possession forever.
“Honestly, it went up and I didn’t know who was going to catch it,” Frisby (Kookesh) said. “But I had a good route to it and it looked like it was coming to me. I called ‘ball,’ and I never miss those, so I knew as soon as I started to catch it that it was over. I was super excited.”
Surrounded by teammates and fans after the game Frisby (Kookesh) took the ball out of his pocket.
“I have it right here,” he said. “Everyone is going to sign this. We have been playing together since, like, we were little, I can’t even remember we were so small. I have been playing on the Little League all-star teams with all these people since I was, like, in fifth or sixth grade. The chemistry has been there since we started. Even though we were at different schools, every game we said hi to each other and hugged each other…And now, today’s hug, it means more. We are on the same team and will be on the same team forever.”
Marcus Mendoza described his last pitches in the top of the seventh inning.
“I was just thinking one out at a time,” he said. “Honestly, right now, I don’t remember the pitches. I just was asked to throw hard. And I was thinking that one more is all I need. My defense has my back and pop it up or ground it out they are going to be there…”
He, too, grew emotional.
“We always keep each other up, you know?” Marcus Mendoza said. “Especially in high-pressure situations or if somebody is in a slump, we just bring each other up. That is about it. We keep the spirits high.”
Marcus Mendoza praised his brother Madden’s play in the championship game. The two had seasons at the now-defunct Thunder Mountain High School before coming to JDHS.
When asked hypothetically who would win if he pitched against his brother, he laughed and answered, “Probably me…But you know, it feels great to win, even greater to win with him. We enjoyed playing at TM, we enjoy this too. This is the most winning I have had in my whole high school career so it feels really good.”
JDHS trailed 4-3 in the bottom of the fourth inning sophomore Charlie Begenyi earned a two-out walk and R. Fick singled down the right field line allowing Begenyi to cross the plate for a 4-4 tie.
JDHS defense responded to a Service single with Marcus Mendoza striking out a batter, Madden Mendoza catching a fly ball at shortstop, and sophomore second baseman Micah Nelson fielding a ground ball and throwing the batter out to Riley Fick at first base.
“We have just been playing together for so long,” Madden Mendoza said of the Crimson Bears. “We know each other like brothers. We have just played together for so long, we know, we just know each other. That’s it. You know, you just have to play good defense and you have to put the ball in play. That was the mindset today.”
Like brother Marcus Mendoza, Andersen and Ryland Carlson, he played at Thunder Mountain, and like his JDHS brotherhood, he has been through the GCLL.
“I don’t even know how to describe my feelings right now,” Madden Mendoza said.
“To everyone that helped me I want to give a big thank you" — he stopped for a long emotional pause — "It means a lot to me. This means a lot. I don’t even know. I don’t know what to say, being honest.”
JDHS scored the first run of the game as Nelson earned a leadoff walk, stole second, advanced to third on a ground ball out by junior Hunter Carte and scored on a fly ball out by Madden Mendoza.
Service tied the game in the top of the second inning. JDHS responded with two runs in the bottom half as Frisby (Kookesh) was hit by a pitch, Marcus Mendoza walked, both advanced on a passed ball and both scored as R. Fick drilled a hard ground ball down the left field line for a 3-1 lead.
Service came back to tie the game in the top of the third inning and took the 4-3 lead in the fourth.
JDHS’ Carte started the game and pitched the first 3.1 innings, allowed five hits, four runs, walked five and struck out one. Marcus Mendoza closed (3.2 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 2 SO).
“Oh, my gosh,” Carte said. “The thoughts going through my head, let me tell you, it was a lot. But man, just having the guys behind my back and knowing they had my back. My brother (2021 JDHS graduate Josh Carte) told me before this that when I get home, either way, I am going to be fishing...To send the seniors out with a state championship is, honestly, I am so glad we got to send them off with the state championship like this. Honestly, like I said before, I never thought this would happen although we kept believing it would. I am so thankful that all this has happened and for all of our coaches and everyone that has interviewed us. So thankful for the people back home in Juneau and everyone else just watching us and supporting us. Honestly, I am just really happy and we worked very hard to get where we are. I just feel good.”
JDHS had to battle one of the state’s top pitchers in Service’s Rilen Niclai, who would finish the Cougars' six innings allowing just three hits, the five runs, walking three batters and striking out eight. And JDHS knew they could handle tough pitchers as they had beaten another top hurler at the region tournament in Sitka senior Caleb Calhoun.
R. Fick went 2-3 at the plate against Niclai, with three runs batted in. Marcus Mendoza had one hit. Madden Mendoza had one RBI, Frisby (Kookesh) scored two runs, Nelson, Marcus Mendoza and Begenyi one each.
Connor Monahan led Service with two hits and Niclai helped his own cause with a triple, a run scored and two walks, but the JDHS fielding was on point.
JDHS’ R. Fick would stop a rally in the top of the second inning as he caught a hard line drive and doubled off the runner leaving his first base bag. In the top of the fourth Madden Mendoza fielded a ground ball and threw to second baseman Nelson who threw on to first baseman R. Fick for an inning-ending double play after Service took a lead.
R. Fick recorded six putouts, Frisby (Kookesh) four, Marcus Mendoza and Carte three apiece, Madden Mendoza and Andersen two apiece, and Nelson one.
JDHS’ Andersen noted the extra drive the Crimson Bears had in this game.
“I think it had a lot to do with us losing last year to Service in the quarterfinal,” he said. “It took a toll basically. We wanted to come into the next season being the best we could. I think we proved that, obviously, coming back working to be a better team than last year. It put a fire in us that we did lose to them in the first round. So we wanted to keep our momentum going from the first round this year and hoped to see them…This is great. It was so close. It kept going back and forth. Our team didn’t think we would score that much, whether it was walks, or hits, or whatever, we didn’t think we would score five at all. The fact we did goes to show that you never know what will happen, even with a good pitcher like Niclai. It would have been close though, no matter what.”
The last time JDHS hoisted the state baseball trophy was in 2018. JDHS assistant coach Kasey Watts was a senior on that team.
“It is special,” Watts said. “Seeing this from both sides of the field. When I was done with high school I didn’t think I would be coming back and coaching.”
Watts also won three state American Legion titles and played college baseball for Arizona’s Mesa Community College. In 2022 he joined the JDHS coaching ranks.
“To come back and give some knowledge to these kids and see them taking it is pretty awesome,” Watts said. “It is cool. On day one we put the belief in them that they were the team that could do it. At the beginning of the season I asked everyone what their goal was. They said ‘Make it to state.’ I said, ‘No that is not our goal. This team can win it. You guys need to believe that.’”
Watts, too, would grow emotional.
“These kids are awesome, man,” he said. “No issues all year. And they really rallied with each other and it was cool to be a part of that. It reminds me of when we won in 2018, we had a big senior class with Michael Ceasar and Donavin McCurley and those guys…To have these nine seniors play ball since they were toddlers and then come out on top is special…It takes belief. They watched the game last night between Service and Dimond, and knew they were going to face the best pitcher in the state, and we just reminded them that, ‘you can’t put him on a pedestal. He has to throw strikes, right?’ Just had to put the belief that they can put the barrel to the ball and run the bases and, you know, we are just playing against the game. That is all we are doing.”
Watts was asked which state title meant more, 2018 or 2026.
“That’s a tough question,” he said. “I almost want to say this one. You grind all year just getting these kids dialed in for the tournament. And in regions they faced Calhoun, and you can go back and forth on who is the better pitcher, Calhoun or Niclai. The way that they fought, and had to face both of them to get to the top is, I think, the icing on the cake. This one wins it over the other one.”
The JDHS team said their celebration Saturday night would include Madden Mendoza getting some dark sunglasses and everyone wearing their uniforms into the hotel pool.
“Memphis pool party,” Madden Mendoza said. “We are going to jump into the pool with all our gear on. That’s a Memphis pool party. And have a sleepover maybe. And Wendy’s!”
“That will be pretty fun,” Nate Fick said.
Marcus Mendoza added loudly, “Playing in the pool! A pool party!”
As the celebration continued on the field coach Adams gathered up gear in the dugout. A moment alone to reflect among the remnants of a championship season.
“Not feeling relief,” he said. “It is more a belief. Reaffirming that when you take a group that you believe in, and your principles, and the kids buy into the program, you get to trust the kids to play the game. So as a coach, it is reaffirming to see that doing things with character is the most important thing, because when the kids buy in, good teams can become great.”
STATE TOURNAMENT AWARDS
JDHS state champions over Service 5-4
Players of the Game - JD Riley Fick, Service Connor Monahan
Sportsmanship - West Valley
Academic - Palmer 3.91 GPA
All Tournament Team: JDHS - Chris Andersen, Hunter Carte, Riley Fick; Service - Connor Monahan, Kegan Lennox; Dimond - Caleb Cooke, Jaden Estigo; West Valley - Mikko Sunie; South - David Feigner; Soldotna - Jayden Stuyvesant; Palmer - Timmy Bridgman; Colony - Easton Cook.
Good Sport Selections: JDHS - Tyler Frisby (Kookesh), Cayman Huff; Colony - Joshua Garland, Easton Cook; Dimond - Dax O’Brien, Gase Afar Faapouli; Palmer - Wyatt Beal, Jackson Combs; Service - Jackson Koetitz, Tristan Roberts; South - Kyler Jensen, Kamden Kissner; West Valley - Wyatt Otness, Finn Lindsey.
SCORES
Thursday:
Cook Inlet #3 Dimond 5, Railbelt # 1 Palmer 2 (POG - DMD Jaden Estigo, PAL Timothy Bridgman)
Southeast #1 JDHS 8, At-Large Colony 3 (POG - JDHS Hunter Carte, COL Clay Wood)
Mid Alaska #1 West Valley 4, Cook Inlet #2 South Anchorage 2 (POG - WV Mikko Sunie, SA Kyler Jensen)
Friday:
Con. Soldotna 7, Palmer 3 (POG - SOHI Jett Barry, PAL Tristan Barry)
Con. South 8, Colony 0 (POG - SA David Feigner, COL Cody Otto)
Semi. Service 6, Dimond 3 (POG - SER Kegan Lennox, DMD - Caleb Cooke)
Semi. JDHS 11, West Valley 1 (POG - JDHS Chris Andersen, WV Brayden Witt)
Saturday:
4th/6th Soldotna 6, South 1 (POG - SOHI Jayden Stuyvesant, SA Rawlin Mascelli)
3rd/5th Dimond 8, West Valley 1 (POG - DMD Shane Flannery, WV Elias Taylor)
Championship JDHS 5, Service 4 (POG - JDHS Riley Fick, SER Connor Monahan)
• Contact Klas Stolpe at sports@juneauindependent.com.
