Crimson Bears baseball team sweeps Kayhi
Published 9:30 pm Saturday, May 17, 2025
The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears baseball team swept the visiting Ketchikan Kings on Saturday at Adair-Kennedy Memorial Park, honoring the Crimson Bears seniors with a pair of wins, 13-0 and 8-1. JDHS also won 17-7 Friday.
In-between Saturday’s wins seniors JJ McCormick, Jacob Katasse and Christian Nelson were honored.
“We had a good focus week of practice,” JDHS junior Brandon Casperson said after Saturday’s first win. “We all just came together as a team. Everyone did their job and just had the same intensity every inning and had a good game. Now we have to close it out with another win. We are taking it as any other game, we’re just staying focused and trying to win.”
Casperson had a number of winning plays during the weekend and was praised by coaches for a hard slide into third base in Saturday’s opener that jarred the ball out of the Kayhi third baseman’s grasp and led to a prolonged rally.
“I knew I was pretty much out so I was just trying to break the play up,” Casperson said.
In Saturday’s opener JDHS put three runs across in the bottom of the first inning as Casperson reached on an error, sophomore Noah Lewis was hit by a pitch, junior Madden Mendoza walked, and McCormick singled to left field scoring Casperson and Lewis. Junior Marcus Mendoza then doubled, scoring Madden Mendoza.
“Our mindset was just winning the game for them,” Madden Mendoza said. “And having some fun for the last home game. Key for me was having fun and putting the ball in play and making no errors as a team.”
JDHS would score another six runs in the second inning, and a pair of runs in each of the third and fourth innings.
Crimson Bears junior Cayman Huff pitched the five-inning win, allowing six hits and walking one batter. Huff is known for having less speed than many pitchers, but a huge curveball and his defense had 15 putouts behind him.
“Just throw strikes,” junior pitcher Cayman Huff said. “Just go right at them. The fastball was working today, the curveball not so much, but I just try to keep working. I think what throws them off is my fastball is slow, but my curveball is way, way slower so I try to keep them off time.”
McCormick led with four RBI, Marcus Mendoza and Casperson two apiece, Lewis, junior Nate Fick, junior Riley Fick and sophomore Drew Cadigan-MacAdoo one each.
McCormick, Marcus Mendoza and R. Fick led with two hits each, N. Fick, junior Tyler Frisby and Cadigan-MacAdoo one each.
“I just wanted to make it fun,” Marcus Mendoza said. “It was their last home game so make it fun for them, just have a team win. I am just trying to hit it where the defense is not and hopefully continue to execute next week.”
In Saturday’s second game JDHS put two runs across in the bottom of the first and fourth innings, and four runs in the fifth inning. Kayhi had a lone run in the top of the seventh.
Senior Christian Nelson went the distance on the mound in his final home game, allowing four hits and one run, walking five batters and striking out four as he pitched to classmate JJ McCormick behind the plate.
Senior Jacob Katasse nabbed two fly-ball outs in the first inning, including one running back to the warning track and looking over his shoulder.
Casperson and Frisby led the Crimson Bears with two RBI apiece, McCormick, R. Fick and Katasse one each.
Frisby led with three hits, Katasse two, R. Fick, Marcus Mendoza, Madden Mendoza and Casperson one each.
“We just need to keep the intensity up,” Lewis said. “Don’t let anything off, doesn’t matter if we played good, just keep it going. We can’t take anything for granted. Just keep the energy up. Even if they score and we don’t, we just keep at it and don’t take anything off.”
The dugout reserves are also key for the Crimson Bears team-first attitude.
“I think it is pretty important,” freshman Josh Beedle said. “I try to be as supportive as possible. I look up to them. I feel like I am getting better watching them. I watch what they do, I try to mimic it.”
The wins improve JDHS to 5-4 in the Southeast Conference and puts Kayhi at 1-11.
Sitka leads the Division I Southeast Conference with a 9-0 record, 20-2-1 overall, and has wrapped up the regular season title. They host JDHS for three games May next weekend.
The Southeast Region V baseball tournament will be at Ketchikan May 29-31 and the state tournament is at Anchorage’s Mulchay Stadium June 5-7.
The Region V tournament champion gets the top conference seeding for state, the regular season title is the second seed.
• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@juneauempire.com.
