Lefty throws gem to help seal second place for Miners

PALMER — With only eight healthy arms for their season-ending four-game series with the Anchorage Bucs, the Mat-Su Miners knew they’d need as much out of their starting pitchers as they could possibly get.

During the first two games of the set, a pair of southpaws came through.

On the heels of Ben Graff’s seven scoreless innings during a 2-1 win over Anchorage on Thursday, Mark Anderson tossed a complete game, seven-hit shutout during a 5-0 victory over the Bucs at Hermon Brothers Field on Friday.

“Everyone on the team knows we’re kind of in a bind right now, and everyone’s been pulling their weight, knowing we need to score more, knowing we need to get guys to extend their pitch counts, things like that,” Mat-Su head coach Brian Yocke said. “Graff and Anderson have just been workhorses for us the last two days.”

Anderson scattered seven hits over nine innings. He walked two and struck out one. Anderson didn’t allow an extra base hit, and rarely saw a Buc reach third base.

“Mark threw a heck of a game,” Mat-Su infielder Stephen Branca said. “That’s probably our best pitched game all year.”

The Miners improved to 18-15 with the win, and clinched second place in the Alaska Baseball League.

Branca said the pitching has been key during a late Mat-Su run that’s allowed the Miners to improve from a sub-.500 record earlier this month to where they are now.

“I know these guys are all tired, all the pitchers are, they’re all exhausted. They all threw a lot of innings through the (college) season and now they’re throwing a lot of innings here,” Branca said. “The fight these guys have is unbelievable. These guys have been great. You couldn’t ask for anything more.”

Anderson allowed only one hit through the first four, and even when Anchorage was able to notch multiple hits during an inning, the defense was there for the Brigham Young lefty.

“Unbelievable. That would be a completely different game if our defense wasn’t where it was,” Anderson said. “It’s always nice if the ball goes up in the air, goes on the ground, you’ve got an out. You’ve won that battle.”

The Miners, led by shortstop Ryan Ford and second baseman Tim Zier, turned three double plays in the win. Yocke said he’s thrilled with all his infielders.

“Our infield defense in general this summer has been fantastic,” Yocke said. “Cam (Kneeland) at first base, a guy that normally played the left side of the infield moved over and hasn’t said a peep about it. And he’s done a great job there. Zier and (Kevin) Lum splitting time at second base, both have done a fantastic job. Ford just grinding it out at shortstop every day, Branca the same at third.”

Heading into the game, Anderson said he knew he’d have to go as far as he could.

“Both me and Graff knew we’d have to go a long way,” Anderson said. “We need arms as much as we can. If they can’t use me any other day, they might as well use me today.”

Anderson said heading through the fifth and sixth he felt strong and confident, as he tried to mix up secondary pitches to keep the Bucs off-balanced.

Yocke said he had confidence in Anderson, even late in the game.

“I was a little nervous in the seventh. He had a high pitch count. You don’t want to overextend a guy too far, especially in summer ball,” Yocke said. “He wanted to finish it, so we let him try.”

The Mat-Su offense helped Anderson’s cause with 11 hits in the game. Ford, Branca, Zier and Adam Martin finished with two hits each. Branca and Michael Gerlach both doubled in the game. Dominick Francia led the Miners with two RBI.

The Miners took a 1-0 lead in the second. Gerlach led off the inning with his double, and later scored when Francia reached on a fielder’s choice.

The Miners added a pair of runs in the fourth. Francia and Zier each drove in runs on back-to-back singles.

Ford scored on a Gerlach fielder’s choice in the fifth to give Mat-Su the 4-0 advantage. The Miners made it 5-0 with Branca’s RBI double.

Contact Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.

FINAL GAME TODAY — FREE ADMISSION

The Mat-Su Miners host the final game of the 2011 season today against the Anchorage Bucs at 2 p.m. at Hermon Brothers Field. It’s Matanuska Telephone Association’s Fan Appreciation Day. Everyone is admitted free.