Homer weather was perfect for baseball last Friday and Saturday. The sun was shining, the day breeze was mild and there was a a table of picnic food set up at the edge of the field.
It was a marked difference from the wind and rain the Mariner baseball team faced in Kodiak last month.
Last weekend’s real storm was on the baseball diamond with the Mariners losing both its Friday and Saturday games to the Colony Knights.
In the Friday game, JJ Sonnen picked up two hits, with Michael Swoboda, Tommy Bowe, Owen Delehanty, Greg Smith, Evan Boyer, Nahoa Jette, Wylie Donich and Kyle Johnson picking up one each. The effort wasn’t enough to fend off the Knights’ 13 hits, however.
Pitcher Wylie Donich gave up only two walks in five innings, raising the score from 4-0 Colony’s favor to a 6-6 tie. In the final two innings, the Knights scored four runs to one additional Mariner run, giving Colony its 10-7 victory.
Saturday’s score was closer, but still a 5-3 loss for the Mariners.
Jette was the starting pitcher for the Mariner, pitching three innings and yielding four runs. Johnson gave up a run in three innings of pitching, while Sheldon Hutt pitched a scoreless seventh.
Sonnen, Delehanty and Jette were the only players to make base hits, but that, combined with some walks, wasn’t enough to give Homer a lead.
Homer’s two runs were scored by Smith and Johnson.
Homer coach Mark Putney said the Mariners got down 2-0 after the first inning and never were able to get even again.
Of last weekend’s games against Colony, Putney said, “We played well. We just didn’t make enough plays to win.”
The scores reflected an improvement over the recent Kodiak games. On April 25, with the wind blowing 30 miles an hour and rain so heavy heaters were used to dry the balls, the umpire called the game in the fourth inning, with the score at 17-0 in Kodiak’s favor. The following day, the Bears were again victorious with a 10-5 score. Then the Mariners faced a ferry ride back to Homer on some of the roughest water Putney, a former Kodiak resident, said he had experienced.
Comparing that experience to last weekend’s sunshine, Delehanty said, “It was fun to play in good weather. We were more prepared for these games, but we’re still not at the top of our game. Our pitchers made (Colony) put the ball in play and our defense was decent, but we still have too many batters looking at third strikes.”
The Mariners weekend baseball schedule includes:
• Saturday: JV and varsity at SoHi.
McKibben Jackinsky can be reached at mckibben.jackinsky@homernews.com. Wendy Wayne contributed to this story.