Glacier Pilots use early runs to snap Mat-Su winning streak

PALMER — Sparked by four runs in the fourth inning, the Anchorage Glacier Pilots posted a 10-3 win over the Mat-Su Miners at Hermon Brothers Field on Sunday.

Anchorage collected five hits and the Miners committed a pair of errors in the fourth to help the Glacier Pilots earn the Alaska Baseball League win and snap Mat-Su’s six-game winning streak.

“We made some errors early in the game and kind of got in trouble,” Mat-Su head coach Russell Raley said.

Six of the first seven Glacier Pilot hitters of the fourth inning reached safely. Geoff Klein, Anthony Hutting, Casey McCollum, Trevor Hairgrove and Dew Heid each singled during the inning. Jace Brinkerhoff reached on an error.

The Pilots, who already held a 1-0 advantage, took the three-run lead on Hutting’s two-run single. Hutting later scored on a wild pitch to push the score to 4-0.

Mat-Su starter Clayton Ehlert was tagged for eight hits and five runs in just less than four innings of work. Only two of those runs were earned.

Ehlert fanned a hitter and walked one.

Connor Hulse, Dan Jensen, Mike Carlson and Jeremy Atkins also saw time on the mound in relief for the Miners.

Anchorage kept Mat-Su off the scoreboard until the Miners put up three runs in the eighth.

Mat-Su infielder Shane Brown spoiled the Pilots’ shutout bid with a two-run single in the bottom of the eighth. Will Musson followed with a double that scored Brown.

“Will had a nice two-out double,” Raley said. “He drove the ball the other way, did a nice job for us.”

Nick Croce and Jonathon Johnson singled early in the inning. D.J. Gentile followed Musson’s double with another two-out hit. The Miners collected five hits and three runs during the inning, but were already facing too much of a deficit.

“Definitely too little too late,” Raley said. “Ten runs is quite the hill to climb with aluminum, not to mention with wood.”

Anchorage starter Jason Mitchell threw seven strong innings to get the win.

“Their starter did a great job,” Raley said. “He did a nice job of getting ahead.”

Mitchell allowed only six Mat-Su base runners and struck out five.

The loss was the first of three games against the Bucs during a four-day stretch. Mat-Su (6-2 overall, 4-2 in ABL play) hosts Anchorage (8-5, 6-1) tonight at 7 p.m. at Hermon Brothers.

Mat-Su will hit the road for the first time this season Wednesday and will face the Pilots at Mulcahy Stadium in Anchorage.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.