Crimson Bears softball team earn trip to state

Klas Stolpe
33 minutes ago
3 min read

JDHS fell to Sitka Lady Wolves in Region V championship game, both teams advance

Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé senior Gwen Nizich slides home during a seventh-inning rally Saturday, May 30, 2026, on Moller Field in Sitka. Despite the effort, rival team Sitka High School won the Region V title. (James Poulson / The Daily Sitka Sentinel)

By Klas Stolpe

Juneau Independent

The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears softball team needed to beat the hometown Sitka Lady Wolves twice on Saturday to earn the Region V championship and a better RPI for seeding at state.

JDHS fell one run short, 6-5, in the first title clash, but will go to state as the Southeast Conference second seed.

“Sitka is a tough team,” JDHS coach Lexi Razor said. “It was a close game. We had one bad inning and then we just did not start hitting until the end.”

Sitka led 6-0 after the bottom of the sixth inning when the JDHS bats started to connect.

After sophomore Ari Ma’ake earned a one-out walk, junior Brynn Wheeler singled and was subbed out for sophomore pinch runner Kiki Galletes-Swofford. Senior Alayna Echiverri earned a walk to load the bases and junior June Troxel singled to score Galletes-Swofford and Ma’ake to trail 6-2. Senior Gwen Nizich singled to score Echiverri for 6-3 and sophomore Sadie Lockhart hit a fly ball out to center field that Troxel scored on to trail 6-4. Nizich stole second and third base and then scored on a Sitka catching error for the 6-5 final tally. Junior Taylor Williams earned a walk and was subbed out for senior pinch runner Reegan Hansen who advanced to second on a single by junior Lily Hayes. A Crimson Bears ground ball to Sitka shortstop Ally Mayville was scooped up and Hayes was put out advancing to second base to end the game.

Nizich pitched the six innings, allowed four hits and six runs, walked six batters and struck out eight.

“Pitching is important, but we just have to hit better,” coach Razor said. “I think once we start hitting better like I know that we can, we are hard to beat. But if we are not connecting like we should, then it will be challenging up there at state.”

Troxel led JDHS with a 3-4 day at the plate, two runs batted in and one run scored. Nizich and S. Lockhart had one RBI apiece. Nizich, S. Lockhart, freshman Blythe Lockhart and Wheeler had one hit each. Echiverri, Troxel, Nizich, Ma’ake and Galletes-Swoffard scored one run each.

“I think as a team we did a good job of not getting down and kept fighting,” Razor said. “Our dugout has been very loud and vocal and talking and supporting the players on the field, and so that has been big for us and helpful. And Brynn (Wheeler) had a great weekend pitching and had some great games, so that was good for her.”

Sitka’s Alina Lebahn started in the circle (6.1 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 4 SO) and Delayna Barry closed (0.2 IP, 1 BB). Lebahn led the Lady Wolves with three RBI, Ally Mayville and Lebahn had two hits apiece and Lebahn two RBI.

After falling to Ketchikan 12-10 to open tourney play on Thursday, JDHS watched the Lady Kings fall to Sitka 16-1 early Friday and then eliminated Kayhi from the tourney 15-3 in a nightcap to earn the title shot against Sitka.

“We had a rough game against Ketchikan, but then we really responded well and played well the rest of the weekend,” Razor said. So I am happy on the direction we are going right now. We did not play bad necessarily on Thursday, but we were pretty flat. And the team all knew it and we talked about it afterwards, and we just talked about how we cannot be flat. We have to play with aggression and be ready and locked in.”

JDHS and Sitka head to the 2026 ASAA Alaska Division I Softball State Championships in Fairbanks, on Thursday-Saturday, June 4-6.

“We have seen a couple of the teams and played against them,” Razor said. “We cannot really worry about what the other team has. We just have to worry about what we can do and what we can control, and if we can do that we will be fine.”

State softball seeding will be determined by RPI of four qualifying teams from the Cook Inlet Conference, three from the Railbelt and SEC’s JDHS and Sitka.