The Soldotna softball team celebrated senior night by topping Northern Lights Conference foe Kenai 22-6 in three innings Wednesday at the Soldotna Little League fields.
Soldotna moves to 3-4 in the league and 4-5 overall, while Kenai drops to 1-5 and 1-8.
Lillian Gomez, Casey Card, Bailey Berger, Emilie Grimes, Lexi Giles and Tori Giles were honored by the team.
“We had a great celebration with them,” Soldotna head coach Kelli Knoebel said. “Those kids dedicated a lot of time and energy to us.”
The Stars scored 18 runs in the first inning off Kenai starter Lexi Reis to take control of the game.
“It was raining and she had a little trouble with the wet ball,” Kenai coach John Manley said of Reis. “We had too many walks and they had some big hits.
“After that, Lexi pitched better, but it was just too much to overcome.”
Ashley McDonald was 2 for 2 with two walks, four runs and four RBIs for the Stars, while Berger was 2 for 2 with two walks and an RBI and Ashlyn Asp was 2 for 2 with a double and four RBIs.
“We were able to watch the ball but also hit our pitch,” Knoebel said.
The coach said Casey Earll went the distance on the mound, striking out five but walking 11. Knoebel said that’s too many walks, but also said Earll was able to get out of jams.
“We didn’t get the hits like they did when we got the walks,” Manley said. “We need to keep working on our batting and see if we can get it going again.”
Manley said Zaharah Wilshusen made a couple nice plays at shortstop, while Kaidence Harvey made a nice play at second, Reis fielded her position well, and Taylor Carver was solid at first.
