It was a 12-0, four inning victory for the Homer High School Mariners softball team in a May 7 game against SoHi.
“I’m really pleased they were hitting all the way through the lineup,” said Head Coach Bill Bell.
That gave the Mariners two Northern Lights Conference wins last week after beating the Kenai Kardinals 17-0 on May 5. The team had a challenging start to the season, with 13 losses in games against some of the state’s biggest and strongest teams, but that was all part of Bell’s game plan.
“Seeing other teams’ crisp level of play and being exposed to that much softball got their minds working,” said Bell of developing the team’s awareness and focus. “Part of it is being of one mind so they don’t have talk too much.”
In the May 7 game against SoHi, Mariner pitcher McKi Needham helped keep the action moving. In 37 pitches, Needham only gave up two hits, had no walks and two strikeouts. SoHi’s Serena Prior pitched 101 times, gave up 12 hits and eight earned runs, but struck out five.
“(Needham) is great. She maintains her composure and is good about keeping the ball in the playable area,” said Bell. “And she’s very smart about walking people.”
Homer’s Maggie LaRue hit two for two with three runs scored. Larsen Fellows, Pam Jantzi, Lauren Kuhns and Kyla Pitzman each hit 2 for 3.  Fellows also batted in three runs and Kuhns added two.
Tuesday the Mariners took on Skyview in at at-home game, and walked off the field with a 9-4 victory over the Panthers. That moves Homer to 3-1 in the Northern Lights Conference.
On Friday and Saturday, Mariner fans can see more softball action as Homer plays host to a tournament with teams from Skyview, Eagle River and Dimond. All games are played at Jack Gist Park, mile 1.7 East End Road.
Friday:
4 p.m. Eagle River varsity vs. Homer varsity
4 p.m. Dimond varsity vs. Skyview varsity
5:45 p.m. Eagle River jv vs. Skyview jv
5:45 p.m. Dimond jv vs. Homer jv
7:30 p.m. Dimond varsity vs. Homer varsity
7:30 p.m. Eagle River varsity vs. Skyview varsity
Saturday:
9 a.m. Eagle River jv vs. Homer jv
9 a.m. Dimond jv vs. Skyview jv
10:45 a.m. Eagle River varsity vs. Homer varsity
10:45 a.m. Dimond varsity vs. Skyview varsity
12:30 p.m. Dimond jv vs. Homer jv
12:30 p.m. Eagle River jv vs. Skyview jv
2 p.m. Dimond varsity vs. Homer varsity
2 p.m. Skyview varsity vs. Eagle River varsity
McKibben Jackinsky can be reached at mckibben.jackinsky@homernews.com