The Soldotna Stars Baseball and Kenai Central Kardinals teams received automatic bids to the Division II state baseball championship tournament this week after finishing first and second in the Northern Lights Conference tournament over the weekend.
The Kardinals tournament run begins against Petersburg at 12:30 on Thursday. Petersburg finished sixth in 2023 after an improbable run to the championship game against the Stars in 2022.
The Stars will begin their bid for a third straight Division II state championship against Kodiak, who received an at-large invitation to the tournament, at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday. Kodiak finished third in the 2023 tournament and fourth in 2022.
The cross-town Stars and Kardinals rivalry has seen some high-level competition in the last two seasons. In 2023, the two teams faced one another in the state championship for the first time ever. Soldotna won 14-3 en route to their second consecutive title. This season, the two clubs split their season series. Kenai won 5-4 on April 29, and Soldotna took the second game 8-0 a week later on May 7. Over the weekend, the two schools met in the NLC championship for the first time. SOHI brought home their first conference championship after a 2-1 win in a superb pitchers’ duel between Trenton Ohnemus and Braden Smith.
Kenai looks to end the Stars’ run of dominance on the diamond, and if the teams play one another, it would be in their second straight state championship showdown.
Stay current on game times as the tournament progresses by following the final score and game time updates at radiokenai.com.
Listen to every Kenai and Soldotna game on ESPN 1140 AM, 96.9 FM, or radiokenai.com.
