Kenai clipped by South in state Legion opener

Bases were loaded with two outs, and South was on the ropes after having already given up a run on a passed ball.

Williams had been here before. In June, Williams delivered the game-winning hit to lift Kodiak past Palmer in the opening round of the Division II state high school baseball championships. 

Could he do it again?

After taking the first pitch for a strike, Williams hit a bouncing ball to third base that was gobbled up by the fielder who touched the pillow for the final out of the game. 

Final score: South 3, Kenai 2. 

It was Williams, though, that kept Kenai in the game after Malakai Olson — a rising junior at Kodiak High School — allowed three runs on six hits in the opening two frames. 

Williams — a hard-throwing right-hander — shut down the high-powered and third-seeded South Wolverines for three innings. The rising senior at Kodiak High fanned three and allowed only one hit on 43 pitches. 

His efforts set up the dramatic seventh inning that started with two straight punchouts and was followed by a hit-by-pitch, a single, a walk, a wild pitch that scored a run and another walk.

South survived and advanced to 1-0 in pool play, while Kenai fell to 0-1. 

The Twins are off today and will conclude pool play against Chugiak (4 p.m. Saturday) and Bartlett (2 p.m. Sunday). 

Sixth-seeded Bartlett upset No. 2 Chugiak 7-3 in 10 innings in Thursday’s opening round. 

 In the Denali Pool, No. 4 Dimond outlasted No. 8 Palmer 3-2. Top-seeded Eagle River played No. 5 Service in the Thursday’s late game. 

The top two teams in each pool advance to Monday’s semifinals. The winners advance to Tuesday’s championship game. 

Williams — hitting from the third spot in the Twins’ order — finished the day going 1-for-3 with a walk. Olson went 0-for-1 and laid down a beautiful sacrifice bunt in the third inning. 

Olson got the start in his first Legion state tournament game. South greeted him by unleashing four doubles in the first two innings. Olson fanned one on 34 pitches. 

Kenai started the game off with a bang as leadoff hitter Daltyn Deborski lined a ball to right field that got past the fielder. He booked all the way home to stake the Twins to an early 1-0 lead. 

South tied it in the bottom of the first and took the lead with a two-run second. 

Both teams made three errors, while South outhit Kenai 8-4. 

Matt Sugita — a member of Kodiak Post 17’s 1985 state championship team — is an assistant coach for South. His youngest son, Skyler, went 1-for-3 with an RBI for the Wolverines. 

Isaac Johnson earned the win for South, striking out six and walking one in six innings.