For the second time in three games, the Soldotna baseball team executed a no-hitter.
Joey Becher no-hit Kodiak on Friday in a 17-0 Southcentral Conference victory in five innings at the Soldotna Little League fields.
The Stars kept rolling Saturday, beating Kodiak 3-0 for their third consecutive shutout.
Becher’s two walks in Friday’s game were the only blemish on his record.
“He had to work for it,” Soldotna coach Robb Quelland said after moving to 7-1 in the league and 8-1 overall. “In the first two innings, his pitch count went up.
“It was good to see him settling down on the mound as he got into the third, fourth and fifth.”
Tuesday, Caleb Spence and Mathew Daugherty no-hit Homer. Thursday, three Soldotna pitchers combined to give up two runs and four hits against Houston.
Then came Friday’s no-hitter. And a second-straight errorless game for the defense.
Quelland said he doesn’t have complete records of the program, but as far as he knows, these are the first two no-hitters in program history.
“I’m kind of at a loss for words as to the potential these young men have,” Quelland said.
The Stars were not happy with their offensive output in the last two games, but that changed Friday with the 17-run outburst.
“It’s nothing more than what we expected,” Quelland said. “We said in the beginning of the season that we are a great team on paper, it’s up to them to go out and prove it.
“This was probably our best game of the season.”
Cody Quelland was 3 for 3 with two runs, while Daugherty was 2 for 2 with two runs and three RBIs.
Also for SoHi, Calvin Hills, Kenny Griffin, Kolten Wilson, Mason Prior and Brandon Crowder scored two runs.
In Saturday’s game, the Stars scored two runs in the first inning, and tacked on an insurance run in the third.
Mathew Daugherty picked up the win, striking out eight batters while allowing six hits and walking two. Joey Becher had three hits and a pair of RBIs for the Stars.
“Even though it’s a short season, it takes time to sort out players,” Quelland said. “We’re finally starting to figure out where everybody’s fitting in.”
Homer 6, Wasilla 0
For the second straight game, the host Mariners faced some of the best pitching the Southcentral Conference has to offer and did not score a run.
After getting no-hit Tuesday, Wasilla ace Nolan Monaghan allowed just two hits in seven innings in shutting down Homer.
“I feel good about how the pitching and defense is coming along,” Homer coach Rich Sonnen said after falling to 3-5 in the league and 3-6 overall. “We just have to figure out how to put some runs on the board.”
Sonnen was happy to go into the seventh trailing just 2-0. Joe Ravin pitched 1 2-3 innings, giving up an earned run and an unearned run.
Seth Adkins kept Wasilla scoreless for 2 1-3 innings, while Garrett Butcher kept the Warriors off the board for two innings.
Greg Smith got both of Homer’s hits, but he gave up four runs on the mound in the seventh inning.
Wasilla 16, Kenai 1
The Kardinals lost to the Warriors 16-1 Saturday in a nonconference game.
Paul Steffenson scored Kenai’s lone run with an RBI from Gavin Petterson, tying the score in the bottom of the first.
The Warriors were able to pull away from there, however.
Conner Jones took the loss for Kenai. Taylor Landry, Jakeb O’Brien and Knox Amend also pitched for the Kardinals.
Landry had two hits for Kenai.
