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Crimson Bears rained out in Anchorage tournament
- Klas Stolpe
- 59 minutes ago
- 5 min read
JDHS softball team played four games before weather cancellations
By Klas Stolpe
Juneau Independent
The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears started a wild ride through the softball jungle of Anchorage, but found that Southeast weather followed them north, and rain forced the cancellation of a portion of the Anchorage Softball Association’s 2026 Blue & Gold Softball Tournament at the Chuck Albrecht Sports Complex.
JDHS had lost 15-5 to the Cook Inlet Conference powerhouse Chugiak Mustangs in their opener on Wednesday and then fell to CIC’s South Anchorage Wolverines 8-5 Thursday. JDHS run-ruled CIC’s West Anchorage 21-0 on Friday before the rain shut down the tournament at 7 a.m. Saturday.
Against South, the Crimson Bears fell behind 4-0 but rallied in the bottom of the second inning to take a 5-4 lead.
JDHS junior Lily Hayes singled, sophomore Ari Ma’ake walked, junior June Troxel reached on an error and junior Brynn Wheeler hit a one-out single, scoring Hayes. Senior Alayna Echiverri singled, scoring Troxel and Ma’ake to pull to 4-3. Sophomore Sadie Lockhart hit a fly ball to load the bases and Senior Gwen Nizich doubled, scoring Wheeler and Echiverri for that 5-4 lead.
South added three runs in the top of the third to regain the lead 8-5. JDHS failed to score in the bottom half and the game ended via the tournament's 65-minute time restrictions despite the Crimson Bears showing they were on a roll.
Nizich pitched the three innings, allowed six hits and eight runs, walked two batters, and struck out five. Echiverri and Nizich led with two runs batted in apiece. Echiverri led with two hits. Echiverri, Hayes, Ma’ake, Troxel and Wheeler scored one run each.
“We have done a good job this year increasing our communication on the field and in the dugout,” Razor said. “This weekend we ended with games where we are able to play after errors. This year we have struggled with getting in a negative headspace after errors, which usually leads to more errors.”
The Crimson Bears started slow against West, scoring one run in the top of the first inning as S. Lockhart hit a one-out single and Hayes a two-out ground ball that scored Lockhart.
The scoring gates opened in the top of the second as JDHS put 10 runs across and then added 10 more in the top of the third inning before the 65-minute time limit expired.
Freshman Maisey Mar pitched the two innings (2 SO) and had fielding back up. Mar handled the first out of the game via the pitch, then fielded a ground ball and threw to junior first baseman Taylor Williams. Williams also handled a ground ball for a putout. Mar fielded the first out in the bottom of the second inning as well, struck out the next batter, and freshman second baseman Blythe Lockhart handled a ground ball and threw to Williams for the third out.
Echiverri went 1-3 at the plate (2 RBI, 3 R, 1 walk), S. Lockhart 2-4 (1 RBI, 2 R), B. Lockhart 1-2 (3 R), Mar 1-2 (2 RBI, 2 R, 1 BB), sophomore Ryann Oliva 1-2 (1 RBI, 1 R, 1 SO), Nizich 0-2 (1 RBI, 3 R, 2 BB), Hayes 0-3 (1 RBI, 2 R, 1 BB), Williams 0-1 (1 RBI, 1 R, 1 BB), senior Reegan Hansen 0-0 (1 RBI, 2 R, 2 BB), junior Cassie Chenoweth 0-0 (1 RBI, 1 BB), Ma’ake 0-0 (1 RBI, 1 R, 1 BB) and sophomore Kiki Galletes-Swofford 0-0 (1 R, 1 BB).
“If we can continue down this path, things will continue to improve,” Razor said. “We also have been in a small hitting slump. We are a fast team that usually hits well, but we have to find our bats again and at a more consistent level than what we are currently doing.”
JDHS found a scrimmage game on Saturday against Chugiak and played the Mustangs much closer in a 5-2 loss. The Crimson Bears outhit the Mustangs 7-6, but Chugiak junior Isabel Sjostrand went 2-3 (2 RBI, 2 R) with a home run and a triple, and junior Abi Lanehart 2-3 (1 RBI, 2 R) to lead the bats. Lanehart also pitched the complete game (6 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 6 SO).
Wheeler started in the circle (2.1 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 2 SO) and Nizich finished (2.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 4 SO). Nizich and Ma’ake had one RBI apiece. Nizich and S. Lockhart scored one run apiece. Nizich, Ma’ake, S. Lockhart, Williams, Chenoweth and Hansen each had one hit. Chenoweth also earned one walk.
Echiverri and Gallates-Swofford caught two fly ball outs apiece, and Oliva one. Nizich had two putouts, one at first base and one while pitching. Williams had two putouts at first base (throws from Chenoweth and Troxel) and S. Lockhart one (from B. Lockhart).
“We did scrimmage,” Razor said. “Players relaxed and played well without the pressure of a real game. It would have been nice to get more games, but we are glad we got in four. There have been years we travel somewhere and we are not able to get any games in.”
JDHS will travel to Sitka for games Friday and Saturday and host Ketchikan on May 22-23. The Region V softball tournament is May 28-30 at Sitka.
This season JDHS returned from the Division I Railbelt Conference to the DI Southeast Conference, and Ketchikan and Sitka moved up from DII to make a three-team conference again. Two teams will advance to the DI state tournament at Fairbanks along with four teams from the CIC (Bartlett, East, Chugiak, Dimond, Eagle River, Service, South, West) and two from the RBC (Colony, Lathrop, Wasilla, West Valley). State teams are seeded 1-8 by RPI.
Last season South won the Alaska School Activities Association state title in a six-team field. JDHS tied with East for fifth. Nizich, Echiverri, Chenoweth and Lockhart were player of the game selections, and Nizich an all-state tournament selection. Sitka was last season’s DII state champion.
• Contact Klas Stolpe at sports@juneauindependent.com
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