Baseball Game Preview: Kodiak Bears vs. Soldotna Stars

For the second straight game, Kodiak will face off against Soldotna. The Bears will look to defend their home field on Saturday against the Stars at 2:00 p.m. Kodiak has given up an average of 7.9 runs per game this season, but Saturday's game will give them a chance to turn things around.

Kodiak is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Alaska's top teams: Soldotna, who was ranked eighth at the time (Kodiak was ranked 15th). The Bears came up short against the Stars on Friday, falling 13-1. The Bears haven't had much luck with the Stars recently, as the team has come up short the last five times they've met.

For Soldotna's part, Brenden Theel looked comfortable as he pitched three innings while giving up just one earned run off two hits. The Stars are 4-1 when Theel allows one or fewer earned runs, but 4-8-2 otherwise.

On the hitting side, Soldotna got a big performance out of Jackson Koetitz, who went 1-for-3 with two stolen bases and three runs. Those two stolen bases gave Koetitz a new career-high. Jett Brophy was another key player, going 1-for-3 with three stolen bases and one run.

The victory (which was Soldotna's fifth in a row) raised their record to 8-9-2. Those wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 11.2 runs over those games. As for Kodiak, their defeat dropped their record down to 5-9.

Soldotna's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Kodiak hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .314. It's a different story for Soldotna, though, as they've only averaged .244. Will they be able to contain Kodiak's hitters? Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more baseball content.