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Crimson Bears are Region V baseball champions, heading to state
- Klas Stolpe
- 11 minutes ago
- 5 min read
Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé nips Wolves, bites Kings
By Klas Stolpe
Juneau Independent
The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears defeated the Ketchikan Kings 12-2 in five innings on Saturday at the Adair-Kennedy Memorial Park field to claim the Region V Southeast Conference Tournament Championship and earn a trip to the state tournament next weekend.
“It was not necessarily easy,” JDHS coach Luke Adams said. “But we were pretty focused all year on the marathon, not the sprint in the beginning. After the regular season we felt like we had done a good job kind of building up what we have to offer and compete with, and right now the kids are buying into the program and each other, and I think that was what we saw this weekend. When we needed the wins, we were able to play some really good baseball. And the kids really performed well.”
JDHS scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning as sophomore Micah Nelson led off with a single, senior Tyler Kookesh hit a two-out single, senior Nate Fick walked to load the bases and senior Marcus Mendoza walked to score Nelson. Junior Drew Cadigan-McAdoo walked to score Kookesh for the 2-0 lead.
Ketchikan tied the game in the top of the third inning, but JDHS rallied in the bottom half. Marcus Mendoza earned a leadoff walk, Cadigan-McAdoo walked and was subbed out for freshman courtesy runner Myles Pasion, senior Riley Fick put down a bunt to load the bases, and Marcus Mendoza scored on a passed ball. Senior Chris Andersen singled to score R. Fick and Pasion for a 5-2 lead.
JDHS added seven runs in the bottom of the fourth. Kookesh led off with a walk. N. Fick singled and Kookesh scored on a Kayhi error. Marcus Mendoza walked. Junior courtesy runner Kordell Lim subbed for N. Fick. Cadigan-McAdoo put down a bunt to load the bases. R. Fick was hit by a pitch, scoring Lim. Marcus Mendoza scored on a passed ball and Andersen earned a walk to load the bases. Junior Hunter Carte was hit by a pitch, scoring Cadigan-McAdoo, Madden Mendoza was hit by a pitch, scoring R. Fick for a 10-2 lead. Kookesh hit a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Andersen and N. Fick singled to score Carte for the 12-2 tally.
The Crimson Bears then closed out the game in the top of the fifth inning. After giving up a leadoff single to Kayhi senior Owen Mendoza, shortstop Madden Mendoza handled a hard ground ball and threw to second baseman Nelson, who turned the ball quickly to R. Fick at first base for a double play. Andersen settled under a fly ball for the third out that ended the game.
Carte started on the mound, going three innings, allowing two hits and two runs, walking five batters and striking out one), Nelson relieved (1 IP, 1 SO) and senior Cayman Huff closed (1 IP, 2 H).
N. Fick led with two hits, Nelson, Kookesh, Cadigan-McAdoo, R. Fick and Andersen one each. Kookesh, Marcus Mendoza and R. Fick scored two runs each, Nelson, Carte, Cadigan-McAdoo and Andersen one apiece. Andersen led with two RBI, Carte, Madden Mendoza, Kookesh, N. Fick, Marcus Mendoza, Cadigan-McAdoo and R. Fick one each.
Kayhi’s Owen Mendoza led the Kings with two hits. Ayden Manabat started on the mound (2 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 7 BB), Julian Paule relieved (1 IP, 4 H, 7 R, 3 BB, 1 SO) and Wyatt Balluta closed (1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 2 SO).
“It was definitely not just one player,” Adams said. “It is so many little efforts both on the field and on the bench, to tell you the truth. Just everybody knowing they have something to contribute to the team, either on the fields or even on the benches. A lot of guys are gaining the experience both on and off the field to see what it takes to peak at the right time and the boys are pushing each other every day in practice. I have to tip my hat to my coaching staff. They have been great with a lot of the training elements we have been trying to focus on from top to bottom in the program. We just have a lot of faith in one another and we are excited. We are excited to get to this point because now the fun really begins and this is a motivated team that feels like we have a lot to prove.”
JDHS had defeated arch rival Sitka 1-0 on Friday and the Wolves were eliminated by Kayhi 8-4 Friday night. Sitka had defeated Kayhi 6-4 to open the tournament on Thursday and earn the right to play top seed JDHS on Friday.
“Yeah, that was the game that these players really wanted,” Coach Adams said. “They wanted to face (Sitka’s Caleb) Calhoun again. They feel like each time we have played him, not only this year, but in the past few years, he has definitely got the better of us. And this team was motivated to get another chance to compete against him. He is such a quality player, all the kids know that. But the boys really stepped up and we found a way to get the job done. It is a great team effort all around, but we were able to manufacture that run that was the difference.”
Facing, and defeating, arguably the best pitcher in the state was a confidence booster for the Crimson Bears.
“I think it just keeps that confidence building,” Adams said. “We have talked to the team and know that as much as we are happy with this weekend, we feel like we can still be better on top of it. So I am going to enjoy the region championships today and then we are going to go back to work on Monday. We feel like we still have another level we can play, but we are just going to go back to working on the basics like we have been. And this team is just humble and hungry, which is exactly where we want to be at this stage, where we feel like we have a quality team, got a lot of belief with one another, and that is what you need going into the state tournament.”
All-Conference honors were announced at the tournament and JDHS seniors Nate Fick, Madden Mendoza, Marcus Mendoza and Tyler Kookesh and junior Hunter Carte were selected, along with Sitka seniors Caleb Calhoun and Brett Ross, and Ketchikan seniors Owen Mendoza, Jesse Albecker and Bryant Marquez.
• Contact Klas Stolpe at sports@juneauindependent.com.
More photos from Saturday’s game (all by Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Independent)
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