Legion boys battle Alumni men in two-game split
- Klas Stolpe
- Jul 10, 2025
- 4 min read
Auke Bay Post 25 prepares for final home stand
Juneau’s Auke Bay Post 25 American Legion team took a trip to the past in a two-game series against their former heroes during an alumni doubleheader last Saturday at Adair-Kennedy Memorial Park, winning 8-2 in the opener and falling 8-2 in the nightcap.
The series was a tuneup for this weekend's final Alaska Legion home stand against Dimond Post 21 beginning with a 6:30 p.m. non-league game Friday at AKMP. Juneau will also face Dimond in a league doubleheader Saturday (4:30 and 6:30 p.m.) and a Sunday noon non-league clash.
“It was so great to see the alumni back on the field, playing in front of their family and friends,” Auke Bay Post 25 manager Jeremy Ludeman said. “They got to compete against the current season players and share their experiences. It’s not just about winning or losing; it’s about the lessons learned, the friendships made, and the shared love of baseball here in Juneau, Alaska. It’s always a pleasure to see these players we’ve either played with, coached, or heard stories about over the years. It was a great day for the Auke Bay Post 25 American Legion Baseball program.”
The Alumni Post 25 team included Grant Ainsworth (last legion season 2014), Stefan Beedle (2016), Garrett Bryant (2021), Liam Hart 2023, Rory Hayes (2022), Dylan Johnson (2015), Nathan Klein (2015), Christian Ludeman (2021), Brennon Ludeman (2020), Jeremy Ludeman (1997), Donavin McCurley (2019), Gavin Millard (2022), Bodhi Nelson (2023), Isaiah Nelson (2022), Porter Nelson (2023), Jackson Pavitt (2019), Jesse Parr (1997), Kale Perkins (1997), Kai Schmidt (2023), Zeb Storie (2018), Bryce Swofford (2017) and Kasey Watts (2019).
In the Legion’s opening win, Noah Lewis led off the bottom of the first inning with a single, stole second and scored on an error for a 1-0 lead.
The Alumni tied the game in the top of the second inning as McCurley walked, stole second base, advanced to third on a bunt by Storie and scored on a fly ball out to right field by Swofford.
The Legion added three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning with a two-out rally featuring three straight walks to batters Jacob Katasse, Keaton Belcourt and Brenner Harralston, with all three scoring on wild pitches as Christian Brown stood at the plate earning another walk. Legion added another run in the bottom of the fifth inning as Landon Simonson led off with a single and scored on a two-out sacrifice fly by Kasen Ludeman for a 5-1 lead. Legion added three runs in the sixth with Katasse, Belcourt and Brown all crossing the plate.
The Alumni’s final run was a Swofford lead-off home run to left field in the top of the seventh inning.
Lewis and Simonson led the Legion with two hits apiece and Katasse one. K. Ludeman, Harralston and Simonson had one RBI each. K. Ludeman pitched five innings, allowed two hits and one run (1 earned run), walked one batter and struck out nine. Cayman Huff relieved (2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER).
Swofford led the Alumni with two RBI. Klein, Storie, Swofford and B. Ludeman had one hit each. Six pitchers shared the bump with Schmidt starting (1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 SO), and then relievers I. Nelson (1 IP), Klein (1 IP, 1 BB, 2 SO), Swofford (1 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 4 BB), Storie (1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER) and Johnson (1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 ER).
In the Alumni’s nightcap win the Legion scored a run in the top of the third inning as Brown was hit by a pitch leading off and would score as Madden Mendoza was hit by a pitch, K. Ludeman walked and Marcus Mendoza walked for an RBI and the 1-0 advantage.
The Alumni tied the game in the bottom half with a triple by I. Nelson who scored on a ground out by Millard.
Legion took their final lead in the top of the fourth as Belcourt singled, advanced on a single by Harralston and scored on a catcher’s error for a 2-1 advantage.
The Alumni had a two-out rally in the bottom half of the inning with Hart earning a walk, Storie a single, McCurley a single, Klein a single scoring Hart and Storie, Swofford a double scoring McCurley, Watts earning a walk, C. Ludeman a single scoring Klein and Swofford, B. Ludeman earning a walk, and Porter Nelson earning a walk scoring Watts. The Alumni added their final run in the bottom of the seventh inning with a Watts homer over the center field fence for the 8-2 win.
Marcus Mendoza led the Legion with one RBI and one hit. Katasse, Belcourt and Harralston added one hit each. K. Ludeman and Lewis had two walks apiece, Marcus Mendoza and Katasse one apiece. Marcus Mendoza started on the mound (3.2 IP, 6 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 5 BB, 1 SO), Belcourt relieved (2.1 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 5 SO) and Simonson closed (1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB).
Klein and C. Ludeman led the Alumni with two RBI apiece, Swofford, Watts, P. Nelson and Millard one each. C. Ludeman and I. Nelson had two hits apiece, Storie, McCurley, Klein, Swofford, Watts and B. Nelson one each. McCurley started on the mound (2 IP, 1 H, 2 BB, 2 SO) followed by B. Nelson (1 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 SO), Millard (1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 SO), P. Nelson (1 IP, 1 H), Hart (1 IP, 1 BB, 2 SO) and Bryant (1 IP, 1 BB, 1 SO).
• Contact Klas Stolpe at kstolpe@juneauindependent.com.
