JDHS softball team opens road trip with tough competition

Crimson Bears on a ride through the wilds of Anchorage

Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé junior catcher Cassie Chenoweth warms up during the Crimson Bears' 15-5 loss to the Chugiak Mustangs at Anchorage's Chuck Albrecht Sports Complex on Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (Photo courtesy JDHS softball)

By Klas Stolpe

Juneau Independent

The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears have started a wild ride through the softball jungle of Anchorage.

The Crimson Bears saw Mustangs and Lynx on Wednesday, will view Wolverines on Thursday, and were promised a view of Cougars and Eagles in the days ahead as they play in the Anchorage Softball Association’s 2026 Blue & Gold Softball Tournament at the Chuck Albrecht Sports Complex.

“The weather was horrible last night,” JDHS coach Lexi Razor said. “We were scheduled to play two games, but only got through one.”

JDHS faced the powerhouse Chugiak Mustangs of the Cook Inlet Conference and fell 15-5 in four innings.

“I think this was Chugiak’s second or third game,” Razor said. “They had some errors and we had some errors. We were hitting okay off a faster pitcher, but we can hit better. We have to clean up our defense. We can’t win games when we make so many errors.”

JDHS scored two runs in the top of the first inning with senior Alayna Echiverri earning a walk, advancing to second on a passed ball and scoring on a fly ball by junior Sadie Lockhart. Senior Gwen Nizich singled to score Lockhart.

“I liked that we were the visitors and we started off by scoring two runs,” Razor said. “We were hitting well and being aggressive on the bases.”

Chugiak responded with four runs in the bottom half of the inning.

JDHS led off the top of the second with junior June Troxel reaching on a ground ball, advancing on a passed ball and scoring on a ground ball by junior Cassie Chenoweth to pull to within 4-3. Senior courtesy runner Reegan Hansen replaced Chenoweth and advanced on a pop fly by Echiverri, both advanced another base and scored on a double by S. Lockhart for a 5-4 lead.

Chugiak scored six runs in the bottom of the second inning and five in the bottom of the third to force JDHS to score in the fourth inning to continue the game. JDHS had two solid hits that were both fielded for outs and a strikeout. The Crimson Bears stranded junior Brynn Wheeler on base.

S. Lockhart led with two runs batted in and Nizich one. Echiverri scored twice. Freshman Blythe Lockhart, junior Taylor Williams, Wheeler, S. Lockhart and Nizich had one hit each. Nizich pitched two innings, allowed six hits and 10 runs, walked three batters and struck out two. Wheeler pitched one inning (1 H, 5 R, 5 BB, 1 SO).

Chugiak junior Abi Lanehart took the win (4 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 4 SO). Junior Isabel Sjostrand led the Mustang bats with two home run plate appearances, four runs batted in and scoring three runs. Senior Peyton Smith added three RBI, two hits and three runs scored.

JDHS and Dimond took to the field to begin their game, but heavy rain forced a cancellation of action after half an inning.

The Crimson Bears on Thursday face the South Anchorage Wolverines in pool play and on Friday face the West Anchorage Eagles. The Service Cougars are also in their pool. Depending on results they advance in a winner’s bracket game Friday night or consolation action Saturday morning. Teams in the other half of pool play include the East Thunderbirds, Colony Knights, Bartlett Golden Bears and Dimond.

“South, Chugiak and East tend to be the top teams,” Razor said. “East has their returning pitcher who was injured before the state tournament last year, she is pretty good. Chugiak and South were both in the state championship game last year. From what I believe those are the top, but their season just started and they have all had limited games.”

South won the state title last year 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. This season eight teams advance to the Division I state tournament at Fairbanks, two will come from the Southeast Conference as Sitka (defending DII state champ) and Ketchikan have moved up from Division II to return to a three team SEC. Four teams come from CIC (Bartlett, East, Chugiak, Dimond, Eagle River, Service, South, West) and two from Railbelt Conference (Colony, Lathrop, Wasilla, West Valley). State teams are seeded 1-8 by RPI.

• Contact Klas Stolpe at sports@juneauindependent.com