Big inning propels Bucs

PALMER — They rallied, but the Mat-Su Miners fell just short.

The Anchorage Bucs erupted for a six-run fourth inning and held on to grab a 9-7 win over the Miners at Hermon Brothers Field Friday in Palmer.

Despite the six-run fourth and a pair of Anchorage runs in the sixth, the Miners were able to piece five runs together during the final five innings. The Miners scored twice in the bottom of the ninth, and even had the tying run at the plate.

“They’re resilient, they’re going to battle,” Mat-Su head coach Chris Gordon said of his Miners, who trailed 6-2 after the Bucs’ big inning.

The Miners, who finished with a season-high 14 hits in the game, collected a single and a pair of doubles in the final inning. Designated hitter Branden Berry led off the bottom of the ninth with a double and first baseman Clint Freeman followed with a single. Erik Harbutz and Ian Miller both drove in runs with sacrifice flies during the inning, and catcher P.J. Torres also doubled.

“We’re swinging the bat good,” Gordon said.

With Torres on second base and the tying run at the plate, Anchorage was able to force the final out. But the difference in the game was the Bucs’ fourth inning.

The Miners led 2-0 heading into the inning, and Mat-Su starter Ross Mitchell retired the first Anchorage hitter in the fourth. But the Bucs got three straight singles, and seven of the first nine Anchorage hitters in the inning all singled.

Mitchell forced the second Anchorage out with the Miners hanging onto a 2-1 lead, but Anchorage blew open the game with four more singles against the Mat-Su lefthander.

“That’s my fault. I left Mitchell out there a bit longer than I should have. They’ve got a lot of left-handed hitters, and he wasn’t giving up real hard contact,” Gordon said. “We thought maybe we could get out of there, but we left him in too long, and unfortunately he gave up six.”

Basically, all of the hits were on the ground, and many were just out of reach of the Mat-Su defense.

“I thought Ross pitched a lot better than the fate he had,” Gordon said.

First baseman Collin Ferguson led the Bucs with three hits, three RBI and two runs in the game. Outfielder Jordan Brink also had three hits and three RBI. Centerfielder Brenden Kalfus had two hits, drove in two runs and scored another.

Anchorage finished with 15 hits.

The Miners tagged Anchorage starter Jacob Rhame with six hits in four innings, but had more success off the Bucs bullpen.

After Anchorage’s big inning, Mat-Su cut the Bucs’ lead in half when Bill Cullen singled and scored on Chris Taladay’s run-scoring triple in the fifth inning.

Mat-Su also added a pair of runs in the sixth inning. Miller doubled to right field and scored on an Anchorage wild pitch. Steve Casey walked and scored later in the inning.

The Miners took an early lead in the first. Cullen reached on an infield single and scored on a Taladay infield single to give the Miners the 1-0 lead. In the second inning, Harbutz and Torres led off with back-to-back bloop singles. Later in the inning, Casey singled to drive in Harbutz and push Mat-Su’s lead to 2-0.

Casey, a Pepperdine product, is listed as a pitcher on the Mat-Su roster, but earned the start in left field Friday.

“We talked to his (college) coach and they were wanting him to get some (at-bats). We let him swing in (batting practice) and his swing is really pretty good,” Gordon said of Casey, who did not have an at bat and made two appearances on the mound for the Waves as a freshman.

The Miners are currently on the road in a four-game series with the Peninsula Oilers in Kenai. Mat-Su takes the field against the Oilers today at 2 p.m. in Kenai.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com, follow him at twitter.com/matsu_sports and find him by searching Valley Sports Huddle on Facebook.