AIA drop Miners

PALMER -- Wednesday night marked a reversal of fortune for the Mat-Su Miners.

After three come-from-behind victories, the Miners were given a dose of their own medicine.

Athletes in Action scored six runs in the seventh inning en route to a 7-4 victory over Mat-Su at Hermon Brothers Field.

The North Pole-based ballclub erased a 2-0 deficit with its big seventh inning rally.

"We didn't stay out of the big inning," Mat-Su skipper Kevin Edwards said. "That was the big thing."

Mat-Su starter Koley Kolberg pitched six innings of perfect baseball before allowing AIA to rally in the seventh.

Kolberg did not allow an AIA hitter to reach base until he walked Jeremy Accardo in the top of the seventh. AlA's Michael Cline followed with a looping single to left field. The Cline hit was only the second ball AIA had hit out of the infield, the entire game. An AIA double steal moved both runners into scoring position and Kolberg walked AIA first baseman Erick Streelman to load the bases.

Israel Victor followed with a hard shot up the middle, right over second base. Victor's single scored a pair of runs and tied the game.

Following Victor's personal victory, Kolberg was replaced with Mat-Su reliever David Johnson. The UCLA product gave up a pair of doubles in the inning. The latter, a John Blanton smash to the left-centerfield gap, scored three runs to give AIA a 6-2 lead.

Mat-Su cut the deficit in the bottom of the seventh inning. Mike Kelly and Billy Munich led off the inning with a pair of singles and Jeff Butts loaded the bases with an infield hit. With two outs, Josh Mader dumped a single into center field to score two Mat-Su runs.

The Mader single cut the AIA lead to 6-4.

It would be the closest the Miners would get.

AIA added an insurance run off of Ryan Heil in the ninth to seal the 7-4 victory.

Thus far this season Mat-Su has been playing impressive defensive baseball and secured several more "web gems" against AIA.

In the top of the third Blanton knocked a hard strike back to the mound and Kolberg spun around and fielded the ball with a backhand catch and threw the runner out at first. In the top of the eighth inning with the AIA bases loaded, Mat-Su notched a 6-4-3 double play as Mader fielded a hard grounder, popped the ball out of his glove to Miner second baseman Mike Kelly who notched the force and gunned the runner out at first to get out of the inning. Miner first baseman Jase Turner also shined with a pair of long stretches to snag errant throws.

"We made some nice plays," Edwards said of his defense. "If we continue to do that, we'll be fine."

The loss snaps a five-game Mat-Su winning streak and is the first blemish on its conference record. The Miners are now 6-2 overall and 3-1 in Alaska Baseball League play. Prior to the loss Mat-Su notched a come-from-behind victory over AIA, beating the North Pole squad 8-7 on Tuesday, and a pair of rally-style wins over the Anchorage Bucs. Mat-Su defeated the Bucs 5-4 on Monday and 2-1 in 12 innings on Sunday.

Mat-Su will host Portland tonight at Hermon Brothers Field. The first pitch is slated for 7 p.m.

Random hits … Despite the loss Mat-Su out hit AIA 9-8 … Butts and Mader each had three hits for the Miners … Mader was 6 for 9 with four RBIs in the two-game series against AIA … Mader has three hits in each of the last three games and 11 hits in the last four games and is batting .392 this season… Kolberg retired the first 19 AIA hitters to start the game … Kolberg, Johnson and Heil combined for five strikeouts and only three walks, one of which was intentional .. The Mat-Su pitching staff has struck out 33 hitters this year and only walked eight.