STARS RALLY

PALMER — Roger Phillips was waiting for his team to put it all together, and the Soldotna coach finally saw that happen in the sixth inning Thursday.

Soldotna used five runs in the bottom of the sixth to score a 9-6 come-from-behind win over the Houston Hawks during the quarterfinal round of the Southcentral Conference Championships at Hermon Brothers Field in Palmer on Thursday.

“We were finally putting the bat on the ball a little bit and being aggressive on the base paths,” Phillips said of the Stars who advanced to the semifinals with the win and knocked the Hawks out of the single-elimination tourney. “And (we were) smarter.”

Phillips said early Soldotna chances in the game were erased by mental mistakes.

“We had several opportunities early. We made running errors — not running out on a ground ball, getting picked off at first,” Phillips said. “(In the sixth we were) just being smart on the base paths, just letting the bat push you around instead of over thinking it.”

Soldotna sent nine hitters to the plate during its five-run sixth. Tyler Fritz sparked the Stars with an early single in the inning, and after Josiah Covey was intentionally walked, Mason Kanakis reached on an infield single.

With the bases loaded, Mitchell Daugherty dropped a ball right in front of the Houston centerfielder to score two runs.

Fritz and Covey both crossed the plate to tie the score at 6.

Shane Miller drove in the go-ahead run with a bloop single.

“Like we always say, if you put the bat on the ball, you put the onus on the defense to come up and make the play,” Phillips said.

Houston head coach Bill Kramer said those two plays were central to the Stars rally.

“Credit to them, they hit the ball, they did what they needed to do to win the game,” Kramer said. “It didn’t fall our way. They took advantage of the things they needed to.”

Tyler Marcuson followed with a two-run double in the inning to push Soldotna’s lead to 9-6.

Junior captain Scott Kramer pitched five solid innings to help Houston have a chance at the win.

“(Kramer) had absolutely great command,” Phillips said of the Houston starter who threw 115 pitches in the game. “My hats off to that kid. He’s not only a hard worker, but he controlled the game well for them.”

Bill Kramer said Scott threw 25 more pitches than he’d tossed in any game this season. The HHS coaching staff was ready to replace the starter with two Soldotna runners on in the fifth, but Scott Kramer continued to compete.

“To his credit, he worked his way out of the inning,” Bill Kramer said.

Kramer also helped his own cause at the plate, finishing 3 for 4. The junior doubled twice and drove in four runs.

Kramer led off the third inning with a double to left field. He later scored on a Russ Ruta sacrifice fly to tie the score at 2.

In the fourth, with the Hawks trailing 4-2, Kramer stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded and drilled a pitch into the left field corner. Kramer’s three RBI gave Houston the 5-4 lead.

In the sixth, Zach Lovelace doubled to left center field and scored from second on a Kramer single to give Houston the 6-4 lead.

The Hawks took an early 1-0 lead in the first. Freshman Jaden Sears reached on an error, and later scored on senior Pat Fitzgerald’s single.

Soldotna tied the score in the bottom of the inning, when Fritz doubled and scored on a passed ball. The Stars took the 2-1 lead in the second when Miller reached on an error and scored.

Soldotna moves forward to play in the semifinals, and Houston had to watch its season come to an end. Bill Kramer was frustrated to see his players have to hang up the cleats for the season, but is optimistic about the future.

“The bright spot for the program is we have 10 freshmen in the program,” Kramer said.

Among the losses for Houston is Fitzgerald, a Susitna Valley High School student who commuted from Talkeetna to play with the Hawks.

“I can’t say enough about a kid who will drive from Talkeetna. Ever since I’ve known him at Wasilla Youth Baseball, he’s made the drive from Talkeetna to play the game he loves,” Kramer said.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.