The Soldotna Stars became the first team to repeat as Alaska School Activities Association D2 Baseball State Champions after a 14-3 win over Northern Lights Conference rival Kenai Central High School on Saturday afternoon at Wasilla High School. The victory for the Stars was a mercy-rule decision in five innings.
Kenai opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning when Charles Chamberlain lifted plated Daniel Steffensen on a sacrifice fly to center field off of Soldotna starter Trenton Ohnemus.
Following a scoreless second inning, Soldotna’s offense batted around the order twice and chased three different Kardinals pitchers in an 11-run top of the third inning.
The first four Stars runs were scored against Kardinals starter Jackson Marion, the remaining seven were driven in against KCHS relievers Gabriel Joanis and Steffensen, the starting Kenai left fielder.
The 11 third inning Soldotna runs overall were scored on six hits, four walks and a fielding error.
The Stars added a run in the fourth on an Andrew Pieh sacrifice flyout and a pair of runs in the fifth on a Chamberlain fielding error and a passed ball on KCHS catcher Jayden Sandahl.
Kenai cashed its last pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the fourth when two Stars fielding errors coupled with a pair dropped third strikes from Soldotna catcher Ari Miller scored both Everett Chamberlain and Jayden Sandahl, making the score 12-3.
Ohnemus proved to be a force on the mound. The Stars right-hander tossed a complete game, the second in a row for a Soldotna starting pitcher.
The sophomore in five innings allowed one earned run on three hits while striking out seven batters.
Soldotna ended the game outscoring Kenai 14-2 over the final four innings.
Photo courtesy of Soldotna High School Athletics Facebook page.