The Soldotna Stars are Northern Lights Conference Champions for the first time after a one-run win over the Kenai Kardinals on Saturday.
Kenai and Soldotna starting pitchers Braden Smith and Trenton Ohnemus were at the top of their game all afternoon, striking out a combined 24 batters. Ohnemus ultimately picked up the win, surrendering just one run over seven innings of work and striking out a season-high 16 batters. Smith struck out eight Stars in six innings and allowed two runs, only one of them earned.
The sensational pitcher’s duel came down to the last inning when Ohnemus struck out the side–for the fourth time–to secure the win. The two starters matched one another nearly stride for stride, with Smith actually allowing fewer hits (four compared to the six allowed by Ohnemus), each only walking a single batter in their complete game performances.
Soldotna jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second with one out when Stars center fielder and senior Levi Mickelson drove the first pitch he saw all the way to the fence for a triple, then came into score on a ground out by designated hitter Jayden Stuyvesant.
The game’s lone error belonged to Kenai’s Gabe Smith and proved to be the costly difference. Ohnemus chopped a 1-1 pitch to Smith at third base, but the throw to first was low and skipped past first baseman Gabe Joanis, and Ohnemus made it all the way to second. After a passed ball, Ohnemus came in to score on an RBI ground out by Stars’ first-baseman Matthew Schilling.
That put Soldotna up 2-0.
Kenai broke through against Ohnemus in the sixth when Gabe Smith laced a one-out double into the right-center gap, then scored on a sacrifice fly by Gabe Joanis. However, strikeouts number 14, 15, and 16 for the Stars’ starter in the seventh sunk any hope the Kardinals had of tying the game up.
Despite outhitting Soldotna 6-4, Kenai stranded four men in scoring position and only managed to bring one across after putting runners on second or third with less than two outs on three separate occasions.
Soldotna will almost certainly head to the Division II state tournament in Wasilla next week as the #1 overall seed, and there is a chance that Kenai will be seeded #2, but that will come down to the ASAA RPI ranking. However, if the teams are on opposite sides of the bracket, there’s a good chance things could come down to a repeat of the 2023 DII state championship between the Kardinals and Stars, a game Soldotna won 14-3.
It’s a matchup many are hoping to see.
Going into the season, Soldotna head coach Ken Gibson said he viewed the Kardinals as their greatest hurdle en route to a potential DII State threepeat, and after Saturday’s barn burner, that looks like the case now more than ever.
Other notable stats: for the Kardinals, Gabe Smith went 2-3 at the plate with a double and a run scored, and Gabe Joanis was 2-2 and drove in Kenai’s only run. SoHi’s Derrick Jones and Wyatt Gagnon were each 1-3, and Mickelson finished 1-2 with a run scored.
Kenai Player of the Game: Gabe Joanis.
Soldotna Player of the Game: Levi Mickelson.
