Chinooks play tough in losses to Miners

CHUGIAK — Last season, the Chugiak-Eagle River Chinooks finished just 1-10 in 11 games against the Mat-Su Miners.

This season, the Miners are having similar success, 6-1 in seven games against Chugiak-Eagle River, but the Chinooks are not making it easy for Mat-Su, the defending Alaska Baseball League champions.

Within a six-day span, Mat-Su needed three runs in the 11th, a walk-off home run and an eighth inning rally to grab three victories over the Chinooks.

“They play us so hard,” Mat-Su head coach Ben Taylor said of the Chinooks. “The Chinooks always play us tough.”

During a home game against the Miners on June 28, Mat-Su needed to overcome a highlight reel-worthy effort by a Chugiak-Eagle River infielder to score a 7-6 win over he Chinooks.

Mat-Su’s Quinn Cotton made two trips to the plate with the bases loaded that night. The Mat-Su Miners outfielder was robbed by a web gem in the fourth, but cashed in on his next opportunity.

As the Miners trailed 6-5 with the bases loaded in the top of the eighth, Cotton used a two-run single to provide the go-ahead runs during the win at Lee Jordan Field in Chugiak.

In the fourth, with the bases loaded and two outs, Cotton ripped a pitch to the right side of the field. As the ball appeared headed for the gap, Chugiak second baseman Brandon Michie made a leap into the air, snagged the line drive to make the play worthy of a spot on SportsCenter’s nightly Top 10.

“The kid made a hell of a play. I thought (I had it), off the bat, but he really got up there for it,” Cotton said.

Fast forward to the eighth inning. Same situation, and same approach, Cotton said.

“Just trying to stay to the middle of the field, try to get some runs in, keep us in the game,” Cotton said.

Cotton had one of Mat-Su’s four hits in the eighth inning. Andy Thomas and Dennis collected back-to-back singles, and Bull legged out an infield single to load the bases. Preston Pavlica was hit by a pitch and Thomas scored to cut Chugiak’s lead to 6-5. Cotton followed with his two-run single.

After Mat-Su’s Blake Benefield sent a ball over the left field fence in the top of the first to give the Miners a 3-0 lead, Chugiak used a three-run effort to tie the score at 3. Chugiak added three more runs in the sixth to take a 6-3 advantage.

In addition to his big catch in the field, Michie also drove in four of Chugiak’s six runs in the loss. He was 2 for 4 at the plate with a run scored. Aaron Schackleford added two hits in the loss. Justin Gomez scored twice.

Chinooks split in Kenai

The Chinooks split a pair of games against the Peninsula Oilers in Kenai over the weekend.

Chugiak followed a 4-3 loss on June 30 with an 8-1 victory July 1.

Levi Gilcrease, Brandon Michie, Justin Gomez and Alex Cratty each drove in a pair of runs for Chugiak. Jeremy Johnson scored twice. Seven different Chinooks finished with at least one run scored.

Robert Winslow earned the win on the mound, allowing just two hits over six innings. He fanned two and walked one.

The night before, the Oilers scored three in the bottom of the first and held on for a 4-3 win over the Chinooks. Micah Pries and Michie had two his each.