Crimson Bears honor seniors with win

The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears honored their seniors with a 6-1 win over Ketchikan on Saturday evening.

JDHS senior Eli Crupi earned a leadoff walk in the first inning and senior Kaleb Campbell singled to left field for the game’s first run.

“Kaleb (Campbell) had a great weekend,” JDHS coach Chad Bentz said. “Joe (Aline) had a good weekend, his pitching wasn’t as good as the his other outing but those things happen. He was strong at the plate. Marcus (Underwood) put up a bunch of zeros for us, which is great. We used a lot of guys, a lot of guys got some opportunities.”

JDHS put another three runs across in the bottom of the fourth inning as junior Lamar Blatnick singled and Campbell tripled him home, senior Bodhi Nelson reached on an error scoring Campbell and tagged up to score on junior Lando Simonson’s fly ball out for a 4-0 lead.

Senior Finn Kesey singled to lead off the bottom of the fifth inning, Crupi walked and both would score on a fielders choice hit by Campbell that resulted in two errors and a 6-0 lead.

Ketchikan’s lone run came in the top of the sixth inning with Colby Hanchey crossing on a Trevor Sayer single.

Campbell went 2-4 at the plate with two runs batted in and two runs scored to lead the Crimson Bears, and Kesey was 2-4 with one runs scored. Crupi and sophomore Brandon Casperson earned two walks apiece.

JDHS senior Marcus Underwood started and went four innings, allowing just two hits, walking five batters and striking out three. Sophomore Christian Nelson relieved for three innings, allowing one run, walking eight and striking out five.

JDHS honored senior players Kesey, Underwood, Campbell, Crupi, Nelson, Aline, Luke Dean and manager Keelia Krick before the win.

Earlier in the day the Crimson Bears fell to the Kings 12-2.

Campbell led JDHS with a 3-4 day at the plate, including a home run, two RBI and one run scored.

Crupi earned three walks; Blatnick, Simonson, Aline, C. Nelson and Kesey one hit each; and Kesey scored one run.

“That first game didn’t go the way we wanted,” Bentz said. “Everyone was pretty frustrated so we didn’t even have a postgame talk which, as I look back on, I am glad we didn’t. Just wanted them to have their senior night, have their moment, and start fresh. They did a good job of moving forward and putting pressure on them. Ketchikan is a good team and they made us work but we did what we had to do to win the second game and ended up winning the series.”

JDHS had beaten Kayhi 5-4 on Friday.

JDHS will next play Thunder Mountain on Tuesday and Wednesday at 7 p.m. (JV 4 p.m.) on Adair-Kennedy Field and play at Sitka Friday and Saturday.

The Region V tournament will be May 25-27 at Adair-Kennedy Field.

“A lot of pitchers are going to have to contribute,” Bentz said. “People are going to get opportunities and they just need to be ready for those opportunities. That’s all they can control.”

Remembering “an amazing guy, person, friend”

The JDHS Crimson Bears also honored Juneau baseball fixture Frank Phillip Barthel (1935-2022) who passed last year. Barthel moved to Juneau in 1980 and was part of the JDHS coaching staff since the 1990s.

Bentz noted when the new field is finished the JDHS dugout will be named after Barthel.

“Frank was an amazing guy, person, friend,” Bentz said. “We don’t just do that for anyone. He was just a big part of this program. I’m just very fortunate to have gotten to know him. He was in it for the kids, that’s it, one hundred percent for the kids.”

Former JDHS coach Jim Ayers said, “Frank made up his mind when he came to the field he was going to check in on every player. It wasn’t about everybody, it was about each player. And he wanted to know how they were doing and what they needed. Like a good coach or a good parent would do he wanted to know how they were, their spiritual nature. Was their life going alright.”

Also attending was 2010 JDHS graduate Dylan Baker, the 2010 Alaska Gatorade Player of the Year who has played 11 seasons of minor league baseball for major league franchises Cleveland, Milwaukee and Los Angeles.

“He was literally the happiest guy and always brought up our spirits any time we were down,” Baker said. “He knew when something was bugging somebody or the whole team. He had a million sayings and he always had your back no matter what… he was just always there for all of us. My buddy Miles Bedford told me, ‘Frank was the heart and soul of JDHS baseball.’ He was pretty amazing.”

See more photos from Saturday’s game below.