With one mighty swing, senior Max Sanford flipped the script in Saturday’s second-place game of the Northern Lights Conference Championships. And because of that, the Bears are dancing into the Division II State Championships.

Sanford’s no-doubt grand slam with two outs in the top of the sixth gave Kodiak a 6-4 lead over top seed Kenai.

An inning later, the Bears completed the stunning rally and celebrated a 10-4 baseball victory at Houston High School.

Sanford’s first career big fly came when Kodiak needed a jolt of energy. The Bears were down to the final four outs of their season. It’s what dreams are made of.  

“Right when I hit it, I started sprinting. I was looking at coach Landon (Durand) and saw him throw his arms in the air. After that, I knew it was a home run,” Sanford said. “I took my time jogging around the bases until I got to third. At third, I just ripped off my helmet and started sprinting towards my team at home plate. That is going to be my most favorite memory.”

Heading into the sixth, Kodiak had only generated two hits off of Kenai pitcher John Thomas. He was cruising until he wasn’t.

Colin Gibbs led the inning off by getting plunked, advanced to third on a Jeremy Mahle single and scored on a steal of home. Cole Barkemeyer got on via a one-out single, then with two outs, Ejler Durand walked on four pitches.

That set the table for Sanford, who was looking for redemption after popping up in his first at-bat. He didn’t wait long, crushing Thomas’ first-pitch low fastball a good 20 feet over the 300-foot fence in left field.

Sanford said he was due after hitting a handful of shots down the left field line this season that just pushed foul.

“I’ve been on it, but I’ve been way early. This time, I decided to wait, sit back and let it fly,” he said.

Head coach Jaron Steele said a player has never slapped his hand harder than Sanford did as he rounded third base. Steele said he knew it was a game-changing swing when the ball exited Sanford’s bat.

“I could see it in his eyes. The excitement was there, and he earned it,” Steele said. “He has been waiting all year and working on his swing. He was over the moon, and I’m sure he is still up in the clouds right now.”

Freshman Jake Sanford — Max’s brother — worked around a lead-off single and a two-out walk to blank Kenai in the bottom of the sixth.

Kodiak widened the gap in the seventh, producing four straight run-scoring hits to push the lead to 10-4.

Barkemeyer’s double scored Jonah Arndt, who singled. Jake Sanford’s single scored Barkemeyer. Durand’s triple brought home Jake Sanford and Max Sanford’s single scored Durand.  

Eli Williams sealed the win, running down a ball in left field that left two runners on and ended Kenai’s season, a night after the Kardinals lost to Homer 11-10 in eight innings in the championship game. .

“Eli really saved us the game. That ball was clearing the bases,” Steele said.

Kodiak opened the scoring in the winner-to-state contest when Gibbs turned a first-inning one-out walk into a 1-0 lead by stealing second and third and scoring on a Mahle groundout.

Kenai answered, scoring three runs before an out was recorded in the bottom of the first and added another run in the second.

Jonah Arndt buckled down after that, pitching into the fifth, while striking out two and walking four. He allowed six hits, but only two after the second inning. Jake Sanford finished, giving up two hits in the final 2.1 innings, while striking out three and walking two.  

“Jonah had a slow start, but he turned it around,” Steele said. “It was a make-or-break point of our season where it was either time to go to work or roll over, and they chose not to roll over. I’m proud of the guys.”

Saturday’s game was the last of three straight elimination game wins for Kodiak after falling to Redington in Thursday’s tournament opener, 5-4 in eight innings.

Kodiak advanced to Saturday’s runner-up game by beating Houston 7-1 and Redington 14-4 on Friday. Senior pitcher Hunter Slabinski was a workhorse in Friday’s games, pitching a seven-inning, two-hit gem against Houston and returning an hour later to pitch the first 1.2 innings against Redington before reaching his 120-pitch limit for the day.

“I can’t speak enough to what that kid means to our team … He is a tremendous young human being,” Steele said. “To be able to throw the team on his back like that and really put it on them is awesome.”

Steele said having Kodiak’s softball team at Saturday’s game and throughout the tournament was a big help. The Northern Lights Conference softball tournament was happening at the same time at Houston High School.

“They bring this energy and are something else … They are a huge part of what we love. We are a bunch of adrenaline junkies, and the softball team really brought the noise for us.”

The four-team Division II State Championships begins Friday at Coral Seymour Memorial Ballpark in Kenai. Kodiak will be making its sixth straight state tournament appearance.  

“These three games have defined what we can be as a team,” Max Sanford said. “We have said this from the beginning of the year, we just haven’t had the ball luck. Honestly, these three games showed what Kodiak baseball can be.”