Friday, May 10
Soldotna 15, Grace Christian 0
The Stars knocked the Grace Christian Grizzlies around for a couple of innings before things wrapped up early, with Soldotna ahead by 15 runs after an inning and a half.
Derrick Jones, celebrating his 18th birthday, led the offense for the Stars. Jones gave himself a great birthday highlight when he hit a Grand Slam.
Wyatt Gagnon also joined the hitting parade with a big shot, his second home run in as many games.
Kenai 16, Palmer 5
On a windy and chilly Friday night, the Kenai Kardinals downed the Palmer moose by mercy rule in five innings. The wind howled most of the game, blowing from left to right field. Many players sported balaclavas under their batting helmets or hooded sweatshirts under their jerseys.
Kenai took advantage of Palmer’s repeated struggles on the mound and in the field. Moose pitchers walked eight batters in the game, while the team committed six errors in the game.
Jacob Joanis, starting pitcher for the Kardinals, had a shaky start to the game, allowing Palmer’s first five batters to reach base. The Moose touched Joanis for three runs in the first inning, two earned, but the Kardinals starter settled in after that. Joanis struck out six batters in four innings of work while only walking two and earned the win.
Offensively, Kenai’s Kalani Beddow stole the show. The Kardinals catcher went 4-4 with two doubles and drove in four runs.
The Moose got the game’s biggest swing when Senior centerfielder Gabe Wheeler drove the first pitch he saw from Joanis in the top of the third inning over the fence in left-center.
Player of the Game: Kalani Beddow.
Saturday, May 11
Palmer 15, Soldotna 13
The Soldotna Stars were stunned by an unprecedented Palmer Moose comeback win on Saturday morning. The Stars took a 13-4 lead into the top of the seventh inning, only to watch it evaporate when Palmer plated 11 runs to take a lead into the bottom half of the frame.
Soldotna looked as dominant as ever through the first six innings. Wyatt Gagnon hit his third home run in three games as part of a four-run rally by SoHi in the fourth inning. He is the second player in Alaska to hit three home runs in three or fewer games this season. Only Service Cougar slugger Jake Rafferty has matched the feat. Andrew Pieh added two RBIs on two hits and also scored twice.
Colby Sturman started on the mound for Soldotna, pounding the strike zone all afternoon. One Moose hitter after another couldn’t catch up to Sturman’s fastball, which consistently hovered around the mid-80s. His only mistake was to Moose slugger Gabe Wheeler, who cranked a fastball for a grand slam in the bottom of the fourth.
Things unraveled for the Stars in the top of the seventh when Palmer sent 15 batters to the plate and scored 11 unanswered runs to take a 15-13 lead. Palmer sophomore Jackson Charton delivered the big hit, a two-run double to put the Moose up by two.
SoHi put leadoff hitter Derrick Jones on base to start the bottom of the inning but couldn’t manage the comeback.
Player of the Game: Wyatt Gagnon.
Kenai 13, Grace Christian 2
The Kenai Kardinal baseball team easily polished off the Grace Christian Grizzlies on Saturday afternoon, May 11, with a convincing 13-2 win.
The game was played with chilly winds and mid-40s temperatures, but that did not stop either the Kards’ defense or offense, which brought 11 men to the plate and produced 6 runs in the 1st inning.
Starting pitcher Braden Smith was dominant. The 10-run rule shortened the game to five innings, and in the 12 outs and 4 innings that he faced, Smith produced a whopping 9 strikeouts.
Catcher Kalani Beddow was productive with 3 RBIs, 2 hits, 2 walks and 3 runs scored.
Kardinal Manager Luke Oliver gave Smith a break in the 5th inning, allowing reliever Jackson Marion to hold the 10-run rule. The Grizzlies then produced two runs before the final out.
Both teams showed sportsmanship at the conclusion, huddling around the pitcher’s mound in and giving thanks for the privilege of competition.
Soldotna 16, Kodiak 1
Soldotna shook off the funk of a shocking loss to the Moose earlier in the day on Saturday to give their seniors a big win over the Kodiak Bears on senior night.
Derrick Jones’s slider was firing on all cylinders against the Bears. The Stars’ starting pitcher struck out eight in four innings, consistently got ahead in counts against Kodiak hitters, and put one after another away with the slider.
Easton Hawkins led Soldotna’s regularly improving offense. The Stars catcher went 3-3 with two RBIs.
Player of the Game: Easton Hawkins.