Chinooks score a wild win over the Miners

After securing a three-game winning streak for the first time in the 2024 season, the Mat-Su Miners were eager to replicate their success at Lee Jordan Field, a place where just two days prior, they were able to secure their first run rule win of the season by a score of 12-0.

Little did they or anyone else know that this game would quickly turn into one of the wildest of the year not just for the Miners but the entire Alaska Baseball League.

The Chugiak-Eagle River Chinooks outlasted the Miners 11-7 Tuesday night.

The game started off at a fever pitch with Hayden Hattenbach and Nolan Livsey taking the mound for each team. Mat-Su got their first crack at scoring in the first inning and did not waste it as Dom Patrizi would bring in Drake Kerr on a sacrifice fly to quickly give the Miners a 1-0 lead. However, the fun was only beginning as the Miners found a way to put two more runners on base in the frame which would set up Brandyn Durand with an opportunity at bursting the game open early. Durand had been close time and time again this season when it came to getting home runs this season, and this time he would not miss. A high fly ball was absolutely belted to left-center field to drive in a three-run homer and give the Miners a 4-0 lead in the game. The Miners had picked up right where they left off after a 10-0 win the prior night.

Despite the early uppercut from the Miners, the Chinooks were eager to not be left behind. They would answer quickly by giving Hayden Hattenbach his biggest test of the ABL season. It did not take long for Chugiak to load the bases off two singles and a walk. Then Jayden Hill would generate an RBI Single that would begin an onslaught by Chugiak. RJ Rickabaugh, David Broughton, and Orion Medeiros would all manage RBIs and the Chinooks would score six total runs in one half-inning against the Miners. It is the most runs that Mat-Su has given up in any 1 frame in the 2024 season. After what seemed like a nearly impossible early salvo to respond to, the Chinooks had turned the tables on the Miners and now had a 6-4 lead.

The game would now be predicated on which team would solve their early pitching woes, and unfortunately for Mat-Su, the Chinooks solved that quickly. Nolan Livsey would shut down the Miners in the top of the second and give up no hits. Meanwhile, the Chinooks would not let up as they would once again push the Miners to the brink. Ryan Harrahill had come in for Tucker Timmerman, but he could not stop the bleeding as RJ Rickabuagh delivered his second straight two- run single to extend the lead to 8-4. Then David Broughton brought it with a sacrifice fly to score Jayden Hill for the second time and give the Chinooks nine runs and a five-run lead after just two innings of play. Mat-Su was in unprecedented ground. They had to find something fast.

Mat-Su suffered a 1-2-3 inning from the Chinooks in the top of the third and had to watch as Louis Zulacia brought in another run to make the score 10-4.

The fourth would not bode much better for the Miners as they allowed Brady Groves to drive in a run and give the Chinooks an 11-4 advantage. It was easily the most runs that the Miners have given up in the first four innings of a game this season. Things were looking more dire than at any point of the season for Mat-Su.

After a quiet fifth, Mat-Su would muster a response with a lighting bolt in the form of Brandyn Durand who became the first Miner in 2024 to manage a multi-home run game by delivering a solo home run in nearly the exact same spot as his first. That would bring the lead to 6, but still Mat-Su needed a lot more. Thanks to solid pitching by Nico Tomasello who came in for Harrahill, they would get another piece of the puzzle in initiating a comeback.

This game’s seventh inning in many ways served as a final gasp for Mat-Su. Christian Perez would manage an RBI single to score Ryker Schow. Then with the bases loaded, new addition Ryan Cochran would make an impact in more ways than one. Cochran had just joined the team a few days prior and was in the process of making his first start of the year. The man from Lehigh University would take a shot but also bring in a run on a hit-by-pitch which cut the lead to 11-7. Although Mat-Su was held scoreless the rest of the way, the path was still there for the Miners. However, at this point it may have also been too little too late.

Mat-Su would get stonewalled offensively in the eighth before finally having to relent in the ninth as Kyle McCausland and Ryan Cochran were on base. July 2 would be a day of revenge for Chugiak who finished the job with an 11-7 win. Despite the tough loss for Mat-Su, signs of positivity are still apparent. Brandyn Durnad’s home runs show that the Miners have yet another home run threat on the team now, and Nico Tomasello’s pitching performance gave Mat-Su a legit chance late. Ryan Cochran also looks like a promising middle infielder for the future that should help in stabilizing the defense. Not every game can go your way, but as the saying goes, it’s not if you fall down but if you get back up. So far this season, Mat-Su has always gotten back up.