Hawks, Moose fall in first round of tourney

KENAI — The Houston Hawks fell into the loser’s bracket with a 4-3 loss to Soldotna Thursday morning at the Kenai Little League fields.

Houston will play Homer in the second-place bracket Friday at 10 a.m. at the Kenai Little League fields.

A clutch suicide squeeze bunt by SoHi freshman Justice Miller proved to be a big play in the game. The game was tied at 1 in the bottom of the fourth inning when Miller was called to squeeze Tyler Marcuson home.

“He got the momentum going for us,” SoHi assistant Mike Griffin said. “For a freshman, you’ve got to touch that ball, and that kid punched that out for us.”

The Stars scored two runs later in the inning and then held on as Houston scored one run in the fifth and one run in the sixth.

Jarrett Urban pitched the first 4 2-3 innings to record the win, giving up two earned runs and five hits while walking seven and striking out five.

Max Conradi pitched 1 1/3 innings of relief, giving up an earned run and two hits while walking two and striking out two.

Tyler Marcuson nailed down the save, throwing only one ball in 11 pitches in the seventh. He struck out two.

Both teams struggled on offense in the game, each picking up seven hits. Houston left 13 runners on base.

“We had really limited offense,” SoHi coach Roger Phillips said. “The Houston pitcher did a good job of stymieing us.”

For SoHi, Jake Darrow was 2 for 3 with an RBI and a run, Shayne Miller was 2 for 3 with a run, and Max Hegge was 2 for 4.

Kenai 10, Palmer 0

Kenai’s AJ Hull pitched a no-hitter at Seymour Park on Thursday afternoon as the Kardinals cruised into the semifinals with a 10-0 five-inning win over Palmer.

Palmer will play Kodiak in the second-place bracket at 10 a.m. today at Seymour Park.

Hull only walked one batter. The Moose also reached base a few times on errors.

Hull also went 2 for 2 on offense, walking twice. He tripled, doubled and had two runs and two RBIs.

Hector Rivera was 3 for 4 with two runs, an RBI and four stolen bases, while Johnny Wilson was 2 for 4 with two runs and two RBIs, and Robert Cockrell was 2 for 3 with a run and an RBI.