ABL: Miners grab first win of season

PALMER - When Matt Dorey added Lance Wilson to the roster, the Mat-Su Miners head coach said he was just looking for a few players who could be productive, make the routine play and help the shorthanded club be successful as they wait for members of the 2006 squad to trickle into the Valley.

Wilson, named to the Mat-Su roster after an open tryout Friday, has done everything Dorey has asked - including knocking in a pair of runs to seal a 4-3 win over the Lake Erie Monarchs at Hermon Brothers Field on Sunday.

The Mat-Su coaching staff added Wilson, a North Pole graduate; former Palmer High standouts David Breck and Zach Mierva; and former Wasilla standout Kyle Cowgill to help in the short term, and be serviceable at minimum.

&#8220Serviceable is a gray term. I want these guys to be competitive,” Dorey said. &#8220And I think Lance is a competitive kid.”

With the Miners holding a slim 1-0 lead in the bottom of the eighth inning, Wilson approached the plate with the bases loaded. He took the first offering of Lake Erie lefty Dan Pools, and put it through a hole on the left side of the infield, right past a diving Sergio Morales.

&#8220I was looking first pitch fastball, and that's what he gave to me,” Wilson said.

The single to left field, Wilson's second hit of the afternoon, drove in Cal Krenke and Brandon Bowser.

Wilson found himself in a similar position the day before, at the plate with runners in scoring position, but did not enjoy similar results.

&#8220I think he was pretty disappointed in himself yesterday. He had the chance to drive in some runs,” Dorey said. &#8220I talked to him after the game, and told him, ‘that's just baseball.' That's the beautiful thing about the game. It's not football. You don't have to wait a week to play another game.”

Wilson didn't have to wait a week. He didn't even have to wait 24 hours to get another chance to produce. He drew a walk in the second. In that at bat, Lake Erie start Dan Graham threw a pitch out of the reach of catcher Eric Diedrich, and Bowser scored to give the Miners a 1-0 lead.

In the fourth, he singled to center.

Pools hit two Mat-Su hitters and Krenke bunted safely to set up the bases loaded situation for Wilson. By the time Wilson's hit left the infield, Bowser - a speedy outfielder from the University of New Orleans - had already crossed the plate. Krenke trucked around third and crossed plate before Lake Erie was able to get the relay throw to the catcher.

Chris Wietlispach earned the win on the mound for the Miners. The Yale sophomore allowed only two hits and stuck out eight hitters in seven innings.

&#8220Chris did a great job,” Dorey said. &#8220The biggest thing I saw today was Chris was being really competitive.”

Wietlispach did walk three hitters. But nearly every time a Monarch runner would reach scoring position, Wietlispach would notch a key strikeout or force an out on a ground ball.

&#8220I felt good about it,” Wietlispach said. &#8220(Pitching coach John) Hendricks has helped me a lot in the bullpen to get ahead of hitters, and throw a lot of strikes. That's key.”

California freshman Craig Benningson pitched the final two innings to notch the save.

Wilson led the Miners at the plate, going 2-for-3 with two RBI.

Shortstop Jonathan Hee also had two hits.

Bowser scored two runs, had a hit and a pair of stolen bases.

Mat-Su will face Lake Erie, an Ohio-based team out of the Great Lakes League, three times during the first week of the season. The Miners hosted the Monarchs on Monday, and the final game of the season series is Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Hermon Brothers Field.

Miner notes … Kevin Christopher, son of Pete Christopher, and Jacob Butcher led Mat-Su fans with their own rendition of &#8220Take Me Out To the Ball Game” during the seventh-inning stretch of the first two games … Breck, a 2005 graduate of Palmer High, took the field in the eighth inning and recorded his first assist at second base … Mierva, another PHS graduate, was the team's designated hitter … Cowgill, a 2005 graduate of Wasilla High School, started at third base.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@

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