Hard luck Miners fall again to Glacier Pilots

PALMER — For a split second, it was as if their luck had finally changed for the Mat-Su Miners.

With the Miners trailing 3-2 with two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning and Mat-Su’s Ian Miller on second base, Bobby Boyd put the ball into play. As Miller stormed toward home, not hesitating at all as he headed around third, Boyd burned to first, ready to beat the throw from the left side of the infield.

Boyd sprinted through the bag and as soon as Anchorage first baseman T.J. Bennett saw that Miller was heading home, Bennett made the throw to the plate.

Miller slid in safely as the loose ball bounced in the batter’s box.

After sitting on the losing end of a dramatic play at the plate that led to the final out of a loss to the Anchorage Bucs on Monday, and another against the Glacier Pilots earlier in this game, it seemed like the giant pendulum called luck finally had swung toward the home dugout. It looked like the Miners plated a tying run.

Or maybe not.

Unbeknownst to everyone else at the park, including the home plate umpire, the field umpire actually called the speedy Boyd out at first base as the play continued.

And the strange days continued for the Miners.

Despite Mat-Su collecting 12 hits and putting nearly 20 runners on base, Anchorage outscored the Miners 6-1 during the final three innings to record the 9-4 win over the Miners at Hermon Brothers Field on Wednesday.

“We haven’t really gotten lucky about anything, it seems like,” Miners head coach Chris Gordon said. “We can never catch a break.”

The Miners have also suffered through a rough stretch while in relief. After Jimmy Reed came out of the bullpen to throw a solid pair of scoreless innings, three Mat-Su relievers were tagged for a combined nine hits and six earned runs.

“We just can’t hold the game where it is and give our offense the chance,” Gordon said.

Gordon said he did see some nice things from starter Jake Long, an East Tennessee State right-hander who made his debut after joining the team earlier in the week.

Long only lasted three innings and allowed three earned runs, but also fanned five.

“He did a great job today. He did throw a lot of pitches early,” Gordon said. “But he has great stuff. I think he’ll be a big part for us.”

The Miners, who are third in the league with a .272 batting average, scattered another dozen hits in the game.

“Our guys are grinding it out, getting on base,” Gordon said.

Infielder Erik Harbutz led the Miners, finishing 3 for 4 at the plate. Nash Knight, P.J. Torres and Will Jamison collected a pair of hits each.

Anchorage took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the third, but the Miners answered with a pair in the bottom of the inning. Knight, Harbutz, Chris Taladay and Branden Berry posted consecutive singles in the inning. Berry’s hit drove in a pair of runs.

Late in the inning, Berry tried to score on a Torres single, but was called out at home plate. Torres sent the ball into center field, where Anchorage’s Tyler Spoon fielded the ball cleanly and fired the throw home. Berry, Mat-Su’s 6-foot-4 first baseman, lowered his shoulder and knocked Anchorage catcher Jeff Kremer to the dirt. Kremer caught the throw, held on and lifted the ball into the air to signal the out.

Berry was forced to leave the game after the collision.

The Glacier Pilots finished with 15 hits in their win. Kevin Swink led Anchorage with two hits and four RBI.

Swink hit a two-run home run in the seventh inning.

Anchorage improved to 5-4 with the win and Mat-Su dropped to 3-9 in Alaska Baseball League play with the loss.

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.