Big 9th inning propels Miners past Chinooks

PALMER — Dayne Wunderlich stepped up to the plate in the top of the ninth inning Sunday night with the bases loaded, no outs and the Mat-Su Miners down by a pair of runs.

The Miners outfielder took a swing at the Chugiak pitch, and as Wunderlich knocked the ball into the infield, the barrel of his bat went right along with it.

As pieces of his bat sprayed across the infield, Wunderlich raced safely to first and pushed a runner across the plate to help spark the Miners. Mat-Su scored five unanswered runs in the top of the ninth to rally to a 6-3 come-behind-win over the Chugiak Chinooks at Loretta French Field in Chugiak.

“As soon as the bat shattered, I was thinking ‘run!’,” Wunderlich, a Rice University freshman, said after the victory. “I saw the bat fly, but I saw the ball go right with it. The ball was kind of in no-man’s land. I hustled to first. I was trying to avoid the double play. We had other guys on, and I was trying not to get the double play there.”

Half of Mat-Su’s eight hits, and five of the team’s six runs came in the top of the ninth.

“It showed a lot of guts to come back and score five in the last inning,” Wunderlich said.

Brandon Smith, who crossed the plate on the Wunderlich play, scored the first of four straight runs and five total runs in the inning. Smith led off the inning with a single to left field, Hunter Simmons followed with a single to right, and Terrence Connelly drew a walk to load the bases.

The Smith run cut Chugiak’s lead to 3-2. Jordan Rodgers used a sacrifice fly to score Simmons and tie the game at 3. Cameron Frost blew the game open for the Miners, using a single to right field to drive in two runs.

Later in the inning, Frost scored on an error to give the Miners the 6-3 lead.

Paul Panaccione also singled during the inning for the Miners.

“I think we have a lot of talent on this team,” Wunderlich said. “If you watch us take (batting practice), you see guys hitting line drives everywhere. If we can string a couple of hits together all the time like this, the potential is limitless.”

Miners head coach Ben Taylor was excited to see his team show an ability to rally.

“Character is always nice to show,” Taylor said.

Wunderlich led the Miners at the plate, finishing 2 for 3 with a pair of runs. He and Nick Senzel each had a triple in the game.

“He’s hungry. He has some things to prove this summer,” Taylor said. “He set a really good tone for himself.”

The Miners used three pitchers in the game. Kyle Serrano started. He fanned three, walked three, and allowed two hits and two earned runs in three innings. Hayden Howard also pitched three innings. Howard struck out five, and didn’t allow a hit or a walk. Seve Romo pitched the final three innings, striking out three and allowing three hits, a run and a walk en route to earning the win on the mound.

“Kyle was a little shaky, but his velocity was great. He hadn’t been on a mound in about two weeks,” Taylor said. “Howard was absolutely fantastic coming in, throwing strikes and working a quick tempo. Seve – all but the leadoff double that turned around and scored – was outstanding,” Taylor said.