Jays shut out in 2025 state qualifier, Soulis 'loves' his team

MINOT, N.D. — For some teams, there is one more week of the 2025 NDHSAA softball season.

Not for Jamestown though.

"We had a good tournament up until today," JHS head coach Mike Soulis said. "To lose the way we did was disappointing. It wasn’t lack of effort, we never doubted that all year."

The Blue Jays dropped 10-0 to Bismarck High in the state tournament qualifying game on Saturday. Jamestown finished out the year at 8-10 in the WDA and 16-15-1 overall.

Bismarck opened the scoring in the bottom of the first thanks to two singles and first got on the board when Bailey Kautzman singled, scoring one run.

The Demons added to their early lead in the bottom of the second inning after the Blue Jays committed an error. Bismarck's Cameron Braun grounded out, and Izzy Owens singled down the left field line, each scoring one run.

Mya Jones earned the win for Bismarck, allowing three hits and zero runs over five innings. The starter struck out two and walked three.

Jaelyn Sloan took the loss for Jamestown. She went two and two-thirds innings, allowing five runs on seven hits, striking out one and walking none.

Sloan was the second pitcher to man the circle for the Jays.

Starter Maddie Hoff pitched for the first two innings. The righty gave up four hits and five runs — three earned — and did not record a strikeout.

"Unfortunately Maddie didn’t have a good day and that’s going to happen but offensively we were not there to pick her up either," Soulis said.

Jordan Mikkelson, Avery Graves, and Brooke Jackson each collected one hit for the Blue Jays. Jackson stole three bases.

Bismarck's performance at the plate proved impressive.

The Demons collected 11 hits in the game. Owens, Josie Schell, and Braun each collected two hits and drove in two runners. Kautzman also recorded a pair of RBIs.

BHS ran wild on the base paths, amassing six stolen bases. Defensively, Bismarck didn't commit a single error.

It was a tough way for the season to end but Soulis wasn't mad.

"I love this group of girls and am very proud of their improvement through out the year," Soulis said. "We didn’t make the state tournament but sometimes you have to look at the character and class of a person or team and feel very proud of how they played the game.

"We will always play that way," he said. "Not all teams can say that."

Bismarck High 10, Jamestown 0

JHS 000 00X X — 0 3 2

BHS 230 14X X — 10 11 0

JHS: Maddie Hoff, Jaelyn Sloan (3); BHS: Mya Jones. W — Jones. L — Sloan.

Highlights: JHS — Hoff (2 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 0 K); Sloan (2.2 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 0 BB, 1 K); Brooke Jackson 1-1; Avery Graves 1-2; Jordan Mikkelson 1-1.

BHS — Mya Jones (5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 2 K) 1-3, RBI; Josie Schell 2-3, 2 RBI; Bailey Kautzman 1-4, 2 RBI; Cameron Braun 2-3, 2 RBI; Izzy Owens 2-3, 2 RBI; Maggie Ness 1-3; Laila Nehls 1-3.

Katie Ringer is a sports reporter for the Jamestown Sun. Katie joined the Sun staff in the summer of 2019 after graduating from the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire with a degree in journalism. She can be reached by email at kringer@jamestownsun.com or by phone at 701-952-8460.