The Soldotna walked away with a dominant 13-2 win over Kenai Central in Southcentral Conference play Tuesday evening at the Kenai Little League fields.
Soldotna moved to 2-2 in the conference and 2-6 overall, while Kenai is still searching for its first win at 0-4 in the league and 0-5 overall.
David Michael sparked the SoHi offense with four runs batted in on a 2-for-5 day. Michael was joined by Jeremy Kupferschmid going 2 for 3 with two RBIs, Trapper Thompson hitting 3 for 3 with two runs, Brennen Werner going 2 for 4 and Davey Belger going 2 for 4 with two RBIs.
Harold Ochea scored both Kenai runs on SoHi fielding errors, reaching on a double in the fourth inning and single in the sixth put the Kards on the board, and finished 2 for 3 on the day. Sam Berry also hit 2 for 3.
Kupferschmid sparkled on the mound for SoHi, pitching a no-hit bid before being pulled after two innings of work. Kupferschmid struck out five and walked two.
Tanner Ussing went 2 2/3 in relief and whiffed four while scattering four hits. Trapper Thompson and Atticus Gibson finished the game, with Thompson giving up one unearned run on two hits and one walk while whiffing one in 1 1/3 innings, and Gibson got the final out on a strikeout.
Ochea went 4 1/3 for Kenai, giving up eight runs (four earned) on eight hits and six walks, but notched seven strikeouts along the way.
Parker Mattox and Sam Berry came on in relief, with Mattox giving up five runs on five hits in 1 1/3 frames and Berry getting the final out with a punchout.
A leadoff single by Kupferschmid in the first inning eventually led to an early 1-0 SoHi lead on a run-scoring passed ball by Ochea.
SoHi tacked on three runs in the second inning, getting an RBI groundout by Atticus Gibson, a double by Davey Belger and a single by Kupferschmid, pushing the Stars lead to 4-0.
SoHi loaded the bases with one out in the third, but the Kardinals escaped the jam with consecutive strikeouts by Ochea.
David Michael tallied a run-scoring single in the fourth, an RBI ground-out in the fifth and a two-run single in the sixth.
