The Kenai Central Kardinals will look to take advantage of their home field for the first time this season as they take on the Homer Mariners at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Kenai Central lost a heartbreaker the last time they played Kodiak, but it's fair to say they got their revenge given the result of Friday's match. The Kardinals put the hurt on the Bears with a sharp 9-3 win on Friday.
Jacob Joanis made a splash while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only two hits while striking out ten over five innings pitched. Joanis was also big at the plate, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with three stolen bases, three runs, and one RBI.
In other batting news, Everett Chamberlain was a standout: he went 2-for-3 with three stolen bases, three RBI, and two runs. Another player making a difference was Braden Smith, who got on base in three of his five plate appearances with three stolen bases and two runs.
Meanwhile, Homer came tearing into Friday's game with four straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 4.5 runs), and they left with even more momentum. They blew past the Patriots 11-3. The result was nothing new for the Mariners, who have now won three contests by eight runs or more so far this season.
Homer got a massive performance out of Cohen Boyd, who went 1-for-3 with two stolen bases, three runs, and one RBI. Those two stolen bases gave Boyd a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Preston Stanislaw, who got on base in all four of his plate appearances with one stolen base, one run, and one RBI.
Homer's victory bumped their record up to 5-1. As for Kenai Central, the win got them back to even at 1-1.
Kenai Central took their victory against Homer in their previous matchup back in May of 2024 by a conclusive 18-4 score. Will the Kardinals repeat their success, or do the Mariners have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
