Logan Smith pitched a complete-game one-hitter to lead the Soldotna baseball team to a 3-2 Southcentral Conference victory over Kodiak on Thursday at the Soldotna Little League fields.
The Stars improve to 2-2-1 overall and 1-2 in the conference. They host Kodiak in a nonconference game at 1 p.m. Saturday.
“He just gutted it out,” Soldotna coach Robb Quelland said of Smith. “He’s the ace of our staff and we lean on him.
“He got in a little trouble in the middle innings but we trusted him and he came through for us.”
Smith gave up two unearned runs while walking four and striking out seven.
The Stars pounded out eight hits to Kodiak’s one, but the Bears actually took a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the fifth inning. With two out and a full count, Cody Quelland launched a two-run home run to put the Stars on top for good.
Rob Quelland said the pitching and defense was great in the game, with Smith throwing 92 pitches and Walton tossing 88 pitches. The defensive highlight was Soldotna’s Jeremy Kupferschmid scaling the fence to rob Kodiak of a home run.
“It was just like on TV,” Quelland said.
David Michael and Hunter Thompson each went 2 for 3 for the Stars.
