Kodiak mauls Moose

PALMER -- The Palmer baseball squad had several opponents on Friday night.

There was the weather, the Kodiak Bears and themselves.

The Moose could have survived the whipping wind, chilling temperatures and potent Kodiak lineup, but they could not survive their defensive mistakes.

Palmer, a normally sturdy defensive ballclub, committed nine errors in the contest.

With the help of the Moose mistakes, Kodiak defeated Palmer 10-3 at Hermon Brothers Field.

The Moose registered a trio of errors in a costly third inning. The errors led to five Kodiak runs.

Palmer's defensive miscues were predominately throwing errors. Whether it was do to the wind or fatigue, the Moose had trouble making the throw from the left side of their infield to first base.

"We didn't show up to play," Palmer head coach Scott Johnson said. "We just had a lot of errors."

Kodiak head coach Dustin Krug was pleased with the performance of his team.

"We were able to throw strikes and our defense didn't make mistakes," Krug said.

Palmer was actually able to take an early lead in the contest.

David Doerr led off the bottom of the first with a walk on four pitches for Palmer. David Breck followed with a single to right. Two batters later Doerr scored when Kodiak pitcher Robbie Romsaville was charged with a balk.

Palmer hurler Jeremy Wedge retired six of Kodiak's first seven hitters, but the Moose ran into trouble in the third.

The first two Kodiak hitters in the third inning reached on Palmer errors. A Landon Durand sacrifice bunt pushed the runners to second and third. Steve Basinger scored for Kodiak scored for the Bears as the balk-happy ump gave out his second free pass to home of the game. Kodiak took the lead when Justin Simpson scored on a wild pitch.

Mark Putney followed with a bloop single to centerfield. Two batters later Putney pulled off his best Ricky Henderson impression by stealing home. Brandon Hinton drove in a run late in the inning to round out the five-run third for Kodiak.

Wedge helped his own cause with an RBI single in the bottom of the third to cut the Kodiak advantage to 5-2.

Just when the Moose began to get closer, the Bears pulled away. Kodiak scored four runs in the top of the fourth to stretch their lead to 9-2.

With one out and the bases loaded, Hinton hit a short ground ball in the infield. Palmer got the force at home plate, but Moose catcher Zack Mirvea lofted the ball over the head of Palmer first baseman Shane Omer while trying to get the double play. Two runs scored on the error.

Palmer recorded nine hits in the contest. Breck, Wedge and David Burkholder each had two hits for Palmer.

Burkholder scored two of Palmer's three runs in the contest.

Wedge pitched five innings for the Moose, striking out five and allowing just three hits. Mike Carlson pitched two innings in relief for the Moose.

The win marked the fourth straight victory for Kodiak. The Bears not only swept a doubleheader from the Moose, but took two games from Colony the night before. Kodiak defeated Palmer 9-3 earlier on Friday and beat Colony 8-5 and 21-20 on Thursday.

Kodiak is now 5-1 on the season, with their only loss coming to Wasilla.