The Soldotna baseball team defeated Palmer 10-0 in five innings Friday at Kosinski Fields in Anchorage to win the Northern Lights Conference championship.
The Stars won the NLC tourney for the second straight season and will try to win the Division II state title for the fourth straight season in the tournament running from Thursday to Saturday, June 5 to 7, at Coral Seymour Memorial Park in Kenai.
The Stars improved to 15-9-2 with the victory over the Moose and also won for the 12th straight time.
After losing in the first round Thursday, Kenai and Homer both won twice Friday to stay alive in the second-place bracket.
The Kardinals defeated Redington 16-6 before toppling Kodiak 7-3. The Mariners defeated Grace Christian 14-4 before defeating Houston 8-3.
Kenai and Homer meet at 10 a.m. Saturday in the second-place semifinals. The loser takes fourth place, while the winner takes on Palmer at 1 p.m. for second place.
The tournament has three automatic berths to state, but the Alaska School Activities Association also gives out three at-large berths to state.
Soldotna 10, Palmer 0
The Stars pushed across 10 runs in the third inning. That would be all they needed to enact the mercy rule in the fifth inning.
Trenton Ohnemus pitched all five innings, allowing just two hits while walking two and striking out six.
On offense, Jett Brophy had two runs, Matthew Schilling had two runs, Wyatt Gagnon had two RBIs, Ari Miller had two RBIs and Tucker Blough had two runs.
Kenai 7, Kodiak 3
The Kardinals moved to 12-4 by making it to the second-place semifinals.
Kenai took a 6-1 lead after the third inning and held on for the win.
Braden Smith worked the first 4 2-3 innings, giving up a run on four hits while striking out four. Daniel Steffensen then gave up two runs on two hits in 1 1-3 innings, and Jacob Joanis worked a scoreless and hitless inning.
Everett Chamberlain was 2 for 3 with two runs and two RBIs, while Smith was 2 for 4 and Avery Martin had two RBIs.
Homer 8, Houston 3
The Mariners improved to 12-8 overall by moving to the second-place semifinals.
Henry Wedvik went the distance for Homer, giving up three unearned runs on three hits while walking one and striking out five.
Ben Engebretsen led Homer at the plate, finishing 2 for 4 with two runs. Also, CJ Burns had two runs.
Kenai 16, Redington 6
The Kardinals started in the second-place bracket by taking down the Huskies in five innings.
Jacob Katzenberger pitched the first two innings for Kenai, allowing six runs — five earned — on three hits.
Braden Smith then pitched three shutout innings, giving up two hits and striking out five.
The top of the order came through for Kenai, with Daniel Steffensen going 3 for 3 with three runs, Smith going 2 for 3 with three runs and two RBIs, and Jacob Joanis going 2 for 3 with two runs and three RBIs. Macalen Marion also was 3 for 4 with three RBIs.
Also, Gabe Joanis had two RBIs, Logan Mese scored twice, Brandon Blake scored twice and Avery Martin scored twice.
Homer 14, Grace 4
The Mariners started in the second-place bracket by toppling the Grizzlies in six innings.
Clyde Clemens went the distance for the Mariners, with just one of his runs being earned. He gave up two hits and five walks while striking out seven.
Henry Wedvik was 2 for 3 for Homer, while Clemens scored two runs, CJ Burns had two runs and two RBIs, Cohen Boyd had two runs, Ben Engebretsen had two runs and Jamen Anderson had three runs.
