The Kodiak baseball team swept Soldotna in Northern Lights Conference play Friday and Saturday in Kodiak.
The Bears won 8-5 on Friday and 16-2 in 4 1-3 innings on Saturday.
Soldotna coach Robb Quelland said the road trip was a tough assignment for his young club, which had three freshmen in the starting lineup, plus another freshman as a courtesy runner.
He said Kodiak fields an experienced group, and playing in rain and 40 degrees did not help.
“Overall, I was impressed with our team,” Quelland said. “They worked well together and there’s nothing like traveling in adverse conditions and playing eight hours in pouring down rain at 40 degrees to bring a team together.”
Friday, Joey Becher pitched the first 4 2-3 innings and gave up six runs while walking four and striking out three. Tyler Covey pitched the last 1 1-3 innings, yielding two runs while striking out two.
Quelland said the problem was Soldotna’s bats never came alive at the right moment.
“It’s the old thing where the pitching is way ahead of the hitting,” Quelland said. “It was our first time seeing live pitching.”
Mason Prior was 1 for 2 with three runs and two walks, while Trayton Bird was 1 for 2 with a run and Brandon Crowder was 2 for 3 with a run.
In Saturday’s game, Quelland said the Stars were right with the Bears for a few innings before things fell apart.
Justice Miller pitched 3 1-3 innings, giving up five runs on three hits while walking four and striking out two.
But after that, three SoHi pitchers had trouble recording outs.
Covey was 1 for 3 with a run, while Miller was 1 for 2 and Terrance Slats had a walk and a run.
