A road trip up to Anchorage did not dividends for the Kenai Central softball team — at least not in the short term.
The Kardinals suffered a pair of losses that dropped their season record to 0-3, starting with a 14-0 loss to Dimond on Friday, and ending with a 15-1 loss to South Saturday at Bartlett High School.
The Lynx scored seven runs in the first inning on Friday, five in the second and three in third to end the game after 3-1/2 innings.
Havan Shaginoff lasted the game on the mound for Kenai, giving up five earned runs.
Saturday’s game against the Wolverines also lasted only 3 1-2 innings, and Alyson Quartly went the distance on pitching.
South scored six runs in the first inning, five in the second and four in the third.
Shannon Evans hit 2 for 2 with a run, and Christina Glenzel hit 2 for 2 with an RBI. The Kards scored their lone run in the third inning.
Kenai coach Mark King said the biggest issue with his squad was a multitude of errors.
“This game, honestly, I totally revamped our team,” King said. “I threw a couple girls in there that hadn’t played varsity before, and just told them that I’m putting you in to get experience.”
King said the field at Bartlett featured an artificial turf outfield that measured only 200 feet, instead of a typical 300 feet, which led to a number of hits that turned into home runs.
SoHi softball splits with Kodiak
The host Soldotna softball team split games with Kodiak on Friday and Saturday in Northern Lights Conference play.
The Stars are now 2-1 in the league and overall.
Saturday, the Stars pulled out a 5-4 victory in 5 1-2 innings.
“It was an excellent game,” Soldotna coach Kelli Knoebel said. “Both teams played well and pitched well. It was all you could ask for in a high school softball game.”
Kodiak struck for a run in the first inning, but SoHi came back for a 2-1 lead after two innings.
The Stars’ big rally came in the fifth inning, when they scored three run to win the game.
Serena Prior went the distance on the mound, striking out six.
“She did an excellent job,” Knoebel said.
The coach also said the infield of Kayla Bauter, Kenley Kingrey, Ila Cobb and Allison Nelson did a great job of backing up the pitcher.
Bauter finished 2 for 3 at the plate, and had the two RBIs that helped put SoHi ahead. Cobb was 2 for 3, Amber McDonald was 3 for 3 with an RBI from the leadoff spot, and Kingrey and Olivia Farrel added RBIs.
SoHi travels to Homer on Wednesday for a 6 p.m. game.
On Friday, Soldotna lost to Kodiak 4-1 to fall to 1-1 overall and 1-1 in the NLC.
Knoebel said the Stars were hurt by leaving 12 runners on base. SoHi had 11 hits, but few were of the clutch variety.
“We hit the ball well,” Knoebel said. “We just couldn’t string enough together to get runs.”
The coach said Prior had a great game on pitcher, going all seven innings and striking out five while walking two.
The Stars took a 1-0 lead with a run in the third inning, but Kodiak came back with three runs in the fifth and a tally in the sixth.
For Soldotna, Nelson and Kingrey were each 2 for 3, while McDonald and Prior were each 2 for 4.
Homer finishes up play in Juneau
The Mariners softball team fell to 0-13 on the year with two losses Friday and four losses Saturday against the tough competition in Juneau.
On Friday, Homer lost to Sitka 12-7 and Thunder Mountain 10-2.
In the 12-7 defeat to Sitka, Homer outhit the Wolves 11-9 but still lost.
Sitka took a 7-4 lead with five run in the bottom of the third. Homer made it 7-6 in the fourth, but Sitka sealed things up with a five-run sixth inning.
McKi Needham pitched all six innings for Homer, giving up nine hits and four earned runs while walking five and striking out six.
Larsen Fellows was 3 for 3 with two runs for Homer, while Maggie LaRue was 2 for 2 with two runs, Riley Walls was 2 for 4 with two runs, and Lauren Kuhns was 2 for 3.
In the 10-2 loss to Thunder Mountain, Homer got just three hits and committed 11 errors.
Pam Jantzi pitched all four innings for the Mariners, giving up 10 runs — none earned — on eight hits while walking two and striking out two.
Needham led Homer on offense by finishing 2 for 3.
Saturday, Homer played in the Juneau Invitational. This is a round-robin tournament in which each game was limited to just 65 minutes.
Homer started off the tournament Saturday morning with a 5-2 loss to Juneau-Douglas, then lost 11-3 to Sitka, 15-4 to Ketchikan and 6-4 to Thunder Mountain.
