Prep baseball: Moose edure rain in loss to Kodiak

May 18, 2007

By Jeremiah Bartz/ Frontiersman

PALMER - The Kodiak Bears felt right at home Wednesday night.

On a cold, wet and generally dreary evening at Hermon Brothers Field - with weather more likely to been seen on Kodiak Island rather than the Mat-Su Valley - the Bears scored a 13-3 win over the Palmer Moose.

Kodiak, generally known as a baseball power in the Southcentral Conference, scored five runs in the first inning, and starting pitcher Mitchell Pruitt pitched five solid innings to lead the Bears to their third straight win over a Valley foe.

Kodiak swept Colony in a two-game series on the island last week.

Pruitt allowed only five Palmer hits in those five innings, and surrendered just one earned run.

&#8220He did a great job,” Kodiak coach Rick Langfitt said. &#8220He struggled a bit in his last start. So we were glad to see him come out and do well.”

The Bears used 13 hits and a bundle of stolen bases to earn the 10-run win over the Moose.

Seven different Kodiak players posted at least one hit, and four different Bear baserunners logged at least one steal.

Senior Curtis Catt was a menace on the basepaths. He swiped three bases and scored three runs.

Jeremiah Olsen and Stuart McFarland also stole two bases.

&#8220Just getting runners on base, that's a big thing for us,” Langfitt said. &#8220Once we get guys on, we're a pretty fast team and a pretty smart baserunning team.”

David Cratty led the Bears with three hits at the plate.

Despite Kodiak's numbers on offense, Palmer starting pitcher Cole Smith was solid on the mound for the Moose.

&#8220He did pitch a really good game,” Palmer head coach David Combs said of his lefthander. &#8220He just didn't get any help.”

The Moose committed six errors in the game, a problem Combs said the Moose have been battling through all season.

&#8220We've been trying to find the guys to get it done,” Combs said. &#8220It's not one person, it's a team deal.”

Palmer collected eight hits in the game, but were only able to put three runs on the scoreboard.

&#8220We didn't get the hits when we needed them,” Combs said.

Seniors Tyson Alger and Doug Lite each finished 2-for-2 at the plate, and scored a run.

Tanner Grover, Casey Smith, Mike Dotson and Jeremy Ratcliff also recorded hits for Palmer.

The Moose (1-3) travel to the Kenai Peninsula next week to face both Soldotna and Homer in Homer.

Kodiak

name ab r h bi

Cratty 4 3 3 0

Olsen 4 1 1 1

Catt 3 3 2 1

McFarland 3 2 1 1

Valdez 3 2 1 0

Pruitt 5 1 2 2

Norton 3 1 2 1

Cooper 4 0 1 0

Diocares 3 0 1 0

Totals 32 13 14 6

Palmer

Grover 4 0 1 0

Ca. Smith 3 1 1 0

Christopher 4 0 0 1

Dotson 2 0 1 0

Alger 2 1 2 0

Co. Smith 2 0 0 0

Lite 2 1 2 1

Roy 2 0 0 0

Ratcliff 2 0 1 0

Totals 23 3 8 2

KODIAK 521 023 x - 13

PALMER 110 001 x - 3

E - Kodiak 2, Palmer 6. LOB - Kodiak 13, Palmer 8. 2B - Cratty, Norton, Cooper. HR - none. SB - Catt 3, Olsen 2, McFarland 2, Pruitt, Ca. Smith, Ratcliff. CS - none.

KODIAK IP H R ER BB SO

Pruitt 5 5 2 1 4 5

Martinez 1 3 1 1 1 1

PALMER IP H R ER BB SO

Co. Smith 5 12 10 10 5 5

Alger 1 1 3 3 1 0

HBP - Valdez (2) by Co. Smith, McFaraland, Norton by Alger, PB - Christopher (3).