Sitka High scored two wins and suffered one loss in a home softball series against Ketchikan Friday and Saturday, and honored their seniors in the final home games the team was slated to play this season.
The Lady Wolves led off with a 13-5 win over the Kayhi Lady Kings after a slow start in the first few innings of Friday's game. But both teams’ bats lit up in Saturday’s first game as Sitka won 25-13. Ketchikan then bounced back and took a 13-5 win in the third game of the series.
Late Friday in heavy rain, Ketchikan took an early lead, scoring three runs in the first inning to Sitka’s one. Sitka held Kayhi scoreless in the second, third and fourth innings, however, and scored a slow but steady stream of runs for themselves, taking the lead in the bottom of the third and holding it for the remainder of the game.
“We always just have started slow in the first innings, like defense and offense,” senior catcher Kaelynn Balovich said after Friday’s win.
Audrey Brevick, one of four seniors on the team this year, agreed, and said she hopes the team gets into the swing of the game sooner by the end of the season.
“We just have to start better. Usually, when we play two games, in our second game, the start is a lot better than the first game. So we just need to figure out how to get it going immediately. Get ready, get our bats on quicker,” Brevick said. The squad’s other seniors are Leia Daly, Kaelynn Balovich and Madison Campbell, and they were honored on the field Saturday in the team’s senior night celebration.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Lady Wolves loaded the bases and scored 2 runs due to Ketchikan’s fielding errors and three more thanks to hits by Kaelynn Balovich, Ally Mayville and Alina Lebahn. On defense, fielding errors cost both teams as Friday’s wind and rain added extra difficulty in throwing and catching the ball.
Kayhi tried to rally in the top of the sixth inning and scored 1 more run, but Sitka’s defense held, and two Kayhi runners were tagged out at first base to end the inning. Sitka junior Ally Mayville hit a triple and batted in two runners in the bottom of the sixth, and a run batted in by Alina Lebahn triggered the mercy rule and ended the game in Sitka’s favor, 13-5.
Though it took some time for Sitka’s bats to heat up, the team made 13 hits on Friday, compared to Kayhi’s 3, though the incessant rain added a new challenge for everyone on the field.
“You probably noticed both pitchers struggle with grip, and then throwing spin pitchers without grip is almost impossible,” SHS coach Jael McCarty said. “So it really just becomes a battle of control, and then whose hitters are jumping on the right pitches. It was more walks than I've seen from either side’s pitching in a while, but when you hit 13, it's hard to lose.”
Kaelynn Balovich, Sitka’s catcher, said her senior year hasn’t been so different from prior seasons, but that the team still works as a strong unit, as it has in the past.
“As a catcher, I've always, not been in charge, but I've always had a voice on the field, so that's not really different… Making the goals as a team helps, because we can support each other and we know what each other's working towards,” Balovich said.
Madison Campbell, also a senior, said the team works well on and off the diamond, which tends to keep morale high.
“I enjoy our bond that we have. And it really helps, because if you're down, they'll bring you right back up,” Campbell said. She batted in a runner early in the game.
Another senior, Audrey Brevick, said her time with the team has gone quickly.
“You don’t feel like it, you remember the seniors from before. It's weird, and it went by so fast. We choose different goals every game, and we just focus on the little ones," she said "Obviously, the overall goal is we want to win state again, but usually every day, we go through everyone and pick goals for the team. So it's always little milestones that we go through.”
Coach McCarty has spent years with her current group of seniors, both on the diamond and in the classroom, and said the group has special significance to her.
“These seniors, they're kind of close to me,” McCarty said. “They were my COVID kids when I was a teacher at Blatchley. So we were in these small pods, and they were talking to me about softball all the time, and they just love it and eat it up. And Kaelynn has been starting since her freshman year, and making great games – and always makes me laugh, and it's kind of just solid behind the plate. She'll be hard to replace.”
“Maddie (Campbell) has always been good to throw a ball for us -- soft hands at second base. Audrey (Brevick) stepped up in a big way at state last year, and she makes me laugh the entire game, keeps me light. And Leah is good for all these sliding catches. And she had that giant collision her freshman year with Adriana Denkinger. I'm just glad she's back and able to play.”
Playing again Saturday, albeit in somewhat better weather, both teams’ bats were hot as Sitka made 15 hits and Kayhi 13, though Sitka won 25-13. In the last game of the series, Ketchikan held on and secured a 13-5 victory.
The games were Sitka’s last home matches of the year; the team has a bye this weekend and competes in Juneau the week after, with the regional tournament slated for the following week, May 30 and 31.
