Chugiak uses 9th-inning rally to avoid finishing at ABL bottom

PALMER — A pair of teams battled to stay out of last place Monday night.

With a pair of run-scoring doubles in the top of the ninth inning, the Chugiak Chinooks edged the Mat-Su Miners at Hermon Brothers Field in Palmer Monday night. With the victory on the final day of the 2012 Alaska Baseball League regular season, the Chinooks finish the season 17-22, mere percentage points ahead of the Miners (16-24).

“Give all the credit to the Chinooks,” Miners pitching coach Nate Fritz said after the loss. “They played hard throughout. They were in the same boat we were, and were able to finish strong.”

Chugiak and Mat-Su entered the ninth tied at 4, but the Chinooks used three hits and two runs to take the lead. Drew Turbin doubled early in the inning, and Chris Matthews scored the go-ahead run. Turbin scored on an Adam Humes double to the right center field gap later in the inning.

“We played hard, we just didn’t come through with the big hit when we needed it, and didn’t hold them when we needed to,” Fritz said.

Mat-Su had 11 hits in the loss and finished the season with a league-best 394 hits. Ian Miller, Ian Sagdal and Tino Lipson each had a pair of hits in the game. Miller stole his ABL-record 36th base of the season.

Chugiak held the lead twice prior to the ninth inning, but Mat-Su was able to tie the score each time. After the Chinooks took an early 1-0 lead with a run in the first inning, Mat-Su designated hitter Chris Taladay sent a shot across the right field fence. Taladay’s first home run of the summer during league play tied the score at 1.

A pair of Chugiak runs in the third sent the advantage back to the Chinooks. But the Miners tied the score again.

Bill Cullen’s two-run double sparked the Miners in the fifth.

Sagdal led off the fifth with a single. Nash Knight and Lipson each followed with singles to load the bases. Later in the inning, Sagdal scored on a Miller single. Cullen followed with a double to clear the bases and tie the score at 4.

Tyler Davis, Mat-Su’s starter, pitched 6 1/3 innings for the Miners. The University of Washington product entered the game seven strikeouts short of the league lead. Davis fanned six Chinooks before he was removed early in the seventh.

“He competed. He went out there and gave us six innings, put himself in position to take the strikeouts lead in the league,” Fritz said of Davis. “His pitch count got up and we had to pull him. These games, while they’re important to these guys’ development, they’re not worth getting anybody hurt.”

Even though the Miners finished in the bottom spot of the six-team ABL, Fritz said there were many accomplishments.

“Guys have gotten better, and I don’t think we should overlook that,” Fritz said. “Guys are going back with new skills. Across the board, I think you’ve seen guys get better, and that’s what this is all about, giving guys the opportunity to play and get better.”

Players began departing Palmer as soon as Monday night. Fritz said the end of a season always comes with mixed feelings.

“This is a good group of guys. They really get along. Some of them will probably never see each other again. That’s bittersweet,” Fritz said. “Obviously, they’re ready to go home, but at the same time they’re going to miss these guys. It’s a bittersweet moment, and we wish it would have ended on a little bit better note.”

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.