Tuesday: Soldotna softball defeats Kenai

The Soldotna softball team defeated Kenai Central 15-6 in six innings in Northern Lights Conference action at the Soldotna Little League fields.

The Stars improve to 5-5 overall and 1-2 in the league, while the Kards are 1-7 and 0-1.

The Kardinals carried a 6-5 lead into the bottom of the sixth before the Stars erupted for 10 runs to end the game.

Both Kenai and Soldotna just finished a long weekend at the Rally in the Valley softball tournament where the games have a time limit of 65 minutes.

Soldotna head coach Kelli Knoebel, back after taking a few years off as head coach, said it was nice to get all the momentum swings of a full game again.

“I think it’s just the pass the bat mentality we talked about,” Knoebel said. “We always have a shot, we want to be gritty and luckily we were able to have things fall our way.”

The biggest hit to fall SoHi’s way was an inside-the-park grand slam by Alyssa McDonald that ended the game.

McDonald popped a ball to left center that was perfectly placed between the fielders. Center fielder Avia Miller got a glove on the ball, but collided with the left fielder, jarring the ball loose.

“She just put it in the right spot,” third-year Kenai head coach Bob Frates said of McDonald. “Unfortunately, we didn’t get to it.

“The fortunate thing is that nobody got hurt because I saw it coming and I’m like, ‘Oh no.’”

Soldotna had grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning, but Kenai led 2-1 after two. The Stars were up 3-2 after the third, but Kenai tied it in the top of the fourth only to see Soldotna lead 5-3 after the fourth.

The Kardinals battled back with two runs in the fifth and one run in the sixth.

Knoebel said Isabelle Cruz did a great job of going the distance and pitching through all the momentum shifts with catcher Tatum Cooper.

“I think that’s the best part about Iz is her mental toughness,” Knoebel said. “You walk one person and you come back and get the next.

“I couldn’t be more proud of her battling.”

For Kenai, Lola McEwen gave up eight runs in four innings, Kyana Griskevich gave up five runs in 1 2-3 innings and Avery Ellis gave up two runs without recording and out.

Frates said his team communicated and played well defensively. He gave the Stars credit for getting a few key hits when it counted.

“That game came down to one inning,” Frates said. “We knew it was going to be a dogfight going into the game.

“I told the team, ‘Those are the games you dream of right there.’ There’s nothing wrong with that. Both teams played exceptionally well and we came out on the losing end. We’ll live for another day.”

Knoebel said it was neat that third baseman Juliet Innes was able to win the discus at a SoHi Mini Meet earlier in the day, while left fielder Kathryn DeBardelaben won the 1,600 meters and triple jump.

“It’s cool to see those kids do track, then come here and dominate with us,” Knoebel said.

Cooper had a pair of doubles for Soldotna, scoring three runs and collecting two RBIs.

McDonald scored each of the four times she reached base and had five RBIs.

Cruz helped herself with three singles, two RBIs and a run. Bailey Conner walked twice and scored both times, while Kacey Cunningham reached base three times and scored every time.

For Kenai, Caitlyn Crapps reached three times and had two RBIs, Maggie Grenier reached twice and scored once, and McEwen got on in each of her three plate appearances and scored once.