JDHS baseball opens season with strong showing at Sitka Invitational

Crimson Bears win four games, lose one, against quality state competition

Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé senior Nate Fick (17) slides into home plate against the Kodiak Bears during the Sitka High Preseason Baseball Invitational tournament on Saturday, April 11, 2026, on Sitka's Moller Field. (James Poulson / The Daily Sitka Sentinel)

By Klas Stolpe  

Juneau Independent

The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears baseball team opened their 2026 season at the Sitka High School Preseason Invitational over the weekend, coming away with four wins and one loss among the eight teams competing.

After opening the invitational with an 8-0 no-hitter victory over Fairbanks’ North Pole Patriots on Thursday, the Crimson Bears fell to Anchorage’s Dimond Lynx 5-4 in a Friday morning contest and then defeated Fairbanks’ West Valley Wolfpack 7-2 in the evening. Games were played under a strict 90-minute time frame.

JDHS senior Nate Fick led the Crimson Bears’ bats against Dimond, going 1-3 with two runs batted in, and sophomore Charlie Begenyi led with two runs scored. Sophomore Parker Katasse and freshman Bode Winkleman had one RBI apiece. Senior Tyler Kookesh and junior Silas Keeler had one hit apiece. Seniors Madden Mendoza, Riley Fick and Kookesh, junior Hunter Carte and sophomore Micah Nelson earned one walk each.

Five Crimson Bears shared the mound: R. Fick went 0.1 inning, allowing one run and walking three, Begenyi 0.2 IP (allowing three hits, 3 R, 2 strikeouts), senior Chris Andersen 0.1 IP (1 H, 1 BB), sophomore Keaton Belcourt 1.0 IP (2 BB, 1 SO) and Keeler 1.2 IP (1 R, 1 BB, 1 SO).

Against West Valley, junior Drew Cadigan-McAdoo went 1.2 IP (0 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 SO), N. Fick 1.0 IP (2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 SO), and freshman Henry Maier 1.1 IP (1 BB, 2 SO). T. Kookesh went 2-2 at the plate (2 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB), Cadigan-McAdoo 2-2 (1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB), Madden Mendoza 1-2 (2 RBI, 1 BB) and Marcus Mendoza 1-3 (2 RBI, 2 SO), Nelson 1-2 (1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 SO), N. Fick 1-2, Winkleman 1-2 (1 R), freshmen Myles Pasion 0-1 (1 R, 1 BB, 1 SO) and Parker Katasse 0-1 (1 BB).

A Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears batter connects on a pitch against the Kodiak Bears during the Sitka High Preseason Invitational baseball tournament on Saturday, April 11, 2026, at Sitka Moller Field. (James Poulson / The Daily Sitka Sentinel)

On Saturday, JDHS had back-to-back evening games, defeating the Kodiak Bears 8-2 and the Petersburg Vikings 8-4.

Against Kodiak, Kookesh led with a 2-2 outing at the plate that included a home run and five RBI, and he scored twice. Begenyi, N. Fick and Madden Mendoza scored twice. Cadigan-McAdoo had one RBI. Marcus Mendoza, Cadigan-McAdoo, Carte, Andersen, and Begenyi had one hit each. Marcus Mendoza went 2.0 IP (1 H, 2 BB, 1 SO) and Carte 1.2 IP (3 H, 2 R, 4 SO).

A complete scorebook was not provided for the win over Petersburg.

INVITATIONAL SCORES

Thursday: West Valley 8, Petersburg 4; Sitka 4, Kodiak 4; Soldotna 5, KOD 2; PSG 5, North Pole 5; WV 6, SOHI 5; JDHS 8, NP 0; Dimond 13, SIT 3.

Friday: SOHI 10, NP 0; DMD 5, JDHS 4; WV 6, SIT 5; PSG 4, KOD 3; SOHI 7, DMD 0; JDHS 7, WV 2; SOHI 5, SIT 0.

Saturday: DMD 4, PSG 2; KOD 9 NP 1; WV 5, DMD 2; SIT 7, NP 6; JDHS 8, KOD 2; JDHS 8, PSG 4; WV 8, SIT 1.

A preseason roster provided by the Crimson Bears features seniors Chris Andersen, Ryland Carlson, Nate Fick, Riley Fick, Cayman Huff, Tyler Kookesh, Madden Mendoza and Marcus Mendoza; Juniors Hunter Carte, Drew Cadigan-McAdoo, Aaron Lazo-Chappell, Kordell Lim and Silas Keeler; Sophomores Keaton Belcourt, Charlie Begenyi, Brenner Harralston and Micah Nelson; And freshmen Darwin Decena, Parker Katasse, Isaac Kirsch, Henry Maier, Myles Pasion and Bode Winkleman. Head coach is Luke Adams. Assistant coaches are Randy Quinto, Jason Hart, Seth Bartusek, Kasey Watts, Jake Carte, Larry Blatnick and Jaysen Katasse.