Bucs bounce Mat-Su Miners

PALMER —Anchorage starter Casey Hauptman allowed only one hit during the first five innings and the Bucs bounced a pair of home run balls off the asphalt outside the outfield wall of Hermon Brothers Field as Anchorage posted a 5-1 win over the Mat-Su Miners in Palmer.

After Mat-Su leadoff hitter James Ramsey put Hauptman’s first pitch of the game in the right field grass, the Anchorage right-hander silenced the Miners bats, allowing just five hits in 6 2/3 innings.

“Some days you’re going to run into good pitching,” Mat-Su head coach Russell Raley said. “I thought that’s what happened today.”

Hauptman fanned five, walked one and allowed only one earned run en route to the win.

“He did a good job,” Raley said. “I thought he kept the ball down. And most days, if you get the ball down early, it’s going to get you what you need.”

While Hauptman stabilized the Anchorage pitching on the mound, Brian Bello and Thor Meeks proved a boost to the Buc offense. Bello and Meeks each went deep to lead help Anchorage to improve to 7-3 in Alaska Baseball League play, and force a tie with the 7-3 Miners in the league standings.

Bello, who has used Hermon Brothers for his own personal launching pad this summer, sent a solo shot out of the park in the top of the sixth to give the Bucs the 2-0 lead. The blast marked Bello’s third in three games at the Palmer ballpark this season.

Meeks supplied an insurance run with his own solo home run in the ninth.

D.J. Gentile put Mat-Su on the scoreboard in the bottom of the sixth when his single up the middle sent Jonathon Johnson home. Johnson and Ramsey posted consecutive singles to start the inning for the Miners.

Ramsey, who has flourished since Raley put him in the leadoff spot earlier this week, led the Miners with two hits in the game.

Starter Sam Murphy was tagged with the loss in his debut in a Mat-Su uniform. The Arkansas product allowed two hits and one earned run in four innings of work.

“It was good to see Sam Murphy out there on the mound,” Raley said. “I thought he did a good job.”

Mat-Su begins a seven-day, nine-game road trip in Fairbanks today. The Miners face the Athletes in Action Fire four times in the next three days, before playing the Alaska Goldpanners five times during a four-day stretch. The Mat-Su schedule features a doubleheader against both Interior teams. All games are played at Growden Park.

The Miners return home on July 6 to face the Peninsula Oilers for the first time this year. The Miners will also feature the Frontiersman-sponsored Military Appreciation Night.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.