The Kenai Central and Soldotna baseball teams won Thursday to advance to the semifinals of the Division II state baseball tournament at Wasilla High School.
Kenai defeated Monroe 9-6 in eight innings while Soldotna, the defending state champions, defeated Palmer 12-9. Also Thursday, North Pole defeated Houston 13-3 and Kodiak defeated Petersburg 5-1.
Friday, Kodiak plays Kenai in the first semifinal at 3:30 p.m. The Kardinals are 12-6 overall, but are 0-3 against Kodiak this season.
In the second semifinal, North Pole plays Soldotna at 6 p.m. The Stars are 13-8 and did not play the Patriots this season, but did beat them 9-8 in eight innings in a state semifinal last season. In the 2021 state tournament, North Pole defeated Soldotna 4-3 for third place.
Kenai won at state in the first round for the first time. In 2012, when there was just one division for baseball, the Kardinals lost in the first round, won to get to the fourth-place game, then lost that contest.
Friday, the fourth-place bracket has Houston against Palmer at 12:30 p.m. and Petersburg against Monroe at 10 a.m.
Kenai 9, Monroe 6, 8 inn.
After the Rams rallied for a pair of runs in the bottom of seventh to tie it at 6, the Kardinals came right back with three in the top of the eighth, then were able to keep the Rams off the board in the bottom of the frame.
“They feel good about the victory, especially keeping their heads in the game and not giving up,” Kenai head coach Luke Oliver said. “It gives them confidence to win a battle as the visiting team in extra innings.”
Kenai had a big day on offense, banging out 12 hits.
In the top of the eighth, Avery Martin, Jayden Sandahl and Owen Whicker started the inning with singles, with Whicker’s shot scoring Martin.
Daniel Steffensen then reached on an error to score Sandahl.
After a Braden Smith infield single put Whicker on third, Charlie Chamberlain cracked a sacrifice fly to score Whicker.
Chamberlain then slammed the door in the eighth on the hill for the win.
Monroe had taken a 2-0 lead in the first. Kenai tied it in the top of the second, but the Rams went up 4-2 in the bottom of the second. Kenai came right back with four runs in the top of the third.
“We were hitting the ball pretty well,” Oliver said. “We had multiple guys with multiple hits.”
Whicker was 2 for 4 with two runs, Smith was 3 for 5 with two RBIs, Chamberlain was 2 for 3 with two runs and two RBIs, and Martin was 2 for 3.
Smith also was good on the mound, pitching the first 6 1-3 innings and giving up six unearned runs on two hits while walking two and striking out seven. Chamberlain gave up just a hit in 1 2-3 innings of scoreless relief, striking out one.
“We had some errors that cost us some runs,” Oliver said. “We were able to respond by putting runs up on offense.”
Soldotna 12, Palmer 9
This is only the third Division II state tournament, and this game matched the winners of the first tournament against the winners of the second tournament.
SoHi was 1-0 in the regular season against the Moose, but then lost to Palmer in the semifinals of the Southcentral Conference tournament.
Thursday, the Stars came out hot with the bats and it was enough. SoHi took a 6-3 lead after an inning, a 10-5 lead after two innings and a 12-5 lead after three innings.
Soldotna coach Ken Gibson said he put Easton Hawkins in the leadoff spot and it paid off. He finished 2 for 5 with three RBIs and was named player of the game as a sophomore.
“He started off the season at JV and came up at the conference tournament and hit well,” Gibson said. “He earned the start.”
Soldotna got to Palmer starter Reed Craner for five runs in one-third of an inning. Craner had started in the 4-3 semifinal victory in the Southcentral Conference tourney and had only given up two runs in 5 1-3 innings.
“It was not what I expected,” Gibson said. “I expected a bit of a pitchers duel, and we did not have that.”
Trenton Ohnemus got the start for SoHi, but gave up five runs — four earned — on three hits in an inning of work. Ohnemus walked four and struck out two.
Brendon Theel came up big for the Stars in relief.
Theel came on and worked the next 4 2-3 innings, giving up four runs — three earned — on five hits while walking six and striking out four.
“He’s another one of the JV guys that’s a sophomore,” Gibson said. “He played JV all year but he pitched well for them so we brought him up for the conference tournament.
“He pitched well there, so he was a great one to come in for us.”
Also for SoHi, Levi Mickelson scored three runs, Ohnemus had two RBIs, Sage Cruz had two runs, and Derrick Jones had two RBIs.
Gibson said Jayden Stuyvesant was another JV player who came up big, catching the whole game and getting a hit.
Andrew Pieh closed the door, pitching a scoreless and hitless 1 1-3 innings while walking one and striking out two.
“He has really done that well a couple times this year,” Gibson said of Pieh. “When we just need somebody to come in and stop other teams, he’s been able to come in and throw good pitches and get strikes.”
Soldotna’s Trenton Ohnemus fires a pitch against the Palmer Moose during the Division II state quarterfinal game Thursday, June 1, 2023, at Wasilla High School. (Jeremiah Bartz/Frontiersman)
