Friday: Kenai goes 2-0, SoHi goes 1-0 at Rally in the Valley

Published 9:01 pm Friday, April 25, 2025

Kenai went 2-0, Soldotna went 1-0 and Homer went 0-2 at the Rally in the Valley Softball Tournament on Friday.

In Saturday play, Kenai faces Sitka at noon and Ketchikan at 3 p.m., while Soldotna faces Delta at 10:30 a.m. and West at 3 p.m., and Homer faces Redington at 9 a.m. and Houston at noon.

Friday, the Kardinals defeated West 6-3 and Wasilla 6-5 to move to 3-1 at the tournament at 3-1 overall.

Against West, the Kards trailed 3-1 entering the bottom of the fifth, but scored five runs to take control of the game.

Lola McEwen gave up four runs — three earned — on three hits in 2 1-3 innings for Kenai, while Blakeley Jorgensen pitched a scoreless 1 2-3 innings.

At the plate for Kenai, Isabel Thomas was 2 for 2 with two runs and two RBIs, while Jorgensen was 1 for 1 with a run and two RBIs.

Against Wasilla, Kenai scored four times in the top of the fifth to take the win. McEwen gave up four runs — one earned — on two hits in 2 1-3 innings, while Jorgensen gave up a run on a hit in 1 2-3 innings.

Jorgensen was 2 for 3 with a run and two RBIs for the Kards. She doubled in the fifth for a walkoff that scored two runs. Also for Kenai, Kayani Whicker was 2 for 2 with two runs.

Soldotna defeated Redington 23-0 to move to 1-2-1 at the tournament and 1-2-1 overall.

Kathryn DeBardelaben pitched two scoreless and hitless innings for the Stars.

At the plate, Kacey Cunningham had three runs, Bella Gares was 3 for 4 with three runs and six RBIs, Tatum Cooper was 4 for 4 with four runs and five RBIs, Alyssa McDonald was 2 for 3 with two runs and two RBIs, Isabelle Cruz was 2 for 2 with two runs and two RBIs, DeBardelaben had two RBIs, Lilly Dawley was 2 for 3 with two runs and two RBIs, Aliya Blough was 2 for 2 with three runs, and Izzy Jones was 3 for 3 with three runs.

Finally on Friday, Homer lost 14-0 to Palmer and 8-2 to Sitka. The Mariners are 0-4 at the tourney and 0-4 overall.

In the Palmer game, Homer did not get a hit. Keagan Niebuhr gave up 14 runs — nine earned — one nine hits.

In the Sitka game, Niebuhr gave up eight runs on seven hits in 1 2-3 innings. Jessica Plumlee had a hit and two RBIs for the Mariners.