After missing an opportunity to play in Alaska Baseball League last year, infielder now leading Miners

PALMER — Last year, Stephen Branca was all set to come to Palmer and play in the Alaska Baseball League for the Mat-Su Miners. But a broken hand derailed his trip north.

But with a new year comes new opportunities. Branca finally did get to come to Alaska and the Valrico, Fla., native is making the most of his chance.

Branca currently leads the Miners in about a half-dozen offensive categories, including batting average, hits and RBI.

“I’m excited to be up here,” Branca said after driving in the winning run during a 6-5 victory over the Anchorage Glacier Pilots last Friday. “It’s been a great experience. There’s a great group of guys. It’s been a lot of fun.”

As soon as the Tennessee-Wesleyan junior arrived in the Valley, he anchored himself into a position on the left side of the infield and the middle of the batting order. Branca currently leads the Miners with 20 hits, five doubles, eight RBI and a .385 batting average. His .519 slugging percentage is a team-best, and his 27 total bases are nearly twice as many as anyone on the team.

Branca has started 13 games for the Miners, earning at least one hit in 11. He has six multiple hit games, and a season-high three hits, three times.

Branca transferred to Tennessee-Wesleyan from Central Florida, where he was a teammate of former Mat-Su Miner Shane Brown.

Branca appeared in only five games as a redshirt sophomore in 2010 before suffering a season-ending hand injury.

“It healed in time for me to play summer ball in Virginia, but I wasn’t able to make it up here,” Branca said.

Branca said he jumped at the opportunity when the Miners gave him a shot to play this season.

“I’ve been looking forward to it. I wasn’t going to miss it for anything,” Branca said.

After traveling to Tennessee-Wesleyan, Branca flourished as an everyday player. In 60 games, he posted a .332 batting average with 80 hits and 54 runs scored. He also collected 38 RBI.

Mat-Su Miners statistical leaders

(As of June 27)

Hitting

Batting average

Stephen Branca .385

Casey Coyle .355

Dominick Francia .349

Nick Rosso .345

Kevin Lum .333

Slugging percentage

Stephen Branca .519

Nick Rosso .517

Casey Coyle .516

Jaycob Brugman .390

Kevin Lum .385

On base percentage

Dominick Francia .462

Nick Rosso .457

Stephen Branca .421

Casey Coyle .417

Michael Suiter .353

Runs scored

Dominick Francia 11

Cam Kneeland 8

Casey Coyle 7

Kevin Lum 6

Nick Rosso 6

Hits

Stephen Branca 20

Dominick Francia 15

Kevin Lum 13

Tim Zier 12

2 tied with 11

RBI

Stephen Branca 8

Adam Martin 6

Tim Zier 5

Jaycob Brugman 5

Cam Kneeland 5

Doubles

Stephen Branca 5

Casey Coyle 5

Jaycob Brugman 3

Kevin Lum 2

4 tied with 1

Triples

Nick Rosso 2

Stephen Branca 1

Jaycob Brugman 1

Home runs

Michael Suiter 1

Walks

Cam Kneeland 10

Dominick Francia 9

Michael Suiter 6

Nick Rosso 5

Tim Zier 5

Stolen bases

Dominick Francia 15

Cam Kneeland 3

Nick Rosso 3

4 tied with 2

Pitching

Earned run average

Steven Bruce 0.00

Ben Graff 0.00

Matt Applegate 0.00

Brandon Hedrick 0.00

Ryan Dull 1.42

Opponents’ batting average

Matt Applegate .125

Ben Graff .143

Jeff Gonzales .155

Mark Anderson .158

Steven Bruce .179

Wins

Mark Anderson 3

Steven Bruce 2

4 tied with 1

Saves

Ryan Kemp 2

Steven Bruce 1

Matt Applegate 1

Brandon Hedrick 1

Innings pitched

Steven Bruce 18.1

Jeff Gonzales 16.1

David Gibson 16.1

Brendan Lobban 14.0

Mark Anderson 11.0

Strikeouts

David Gibson 19

Steven Bruce 15

Brenden Lobban 11

3 tied with 7

Appearances

Jacob Brewer 6

Ben Graff 5

Neal Dennison 5

6 tied with 4