Mat-Su punches ticket to ABL Championship round

PALMER - Deja vu struck the Alaska Baseball League Thursday night when the Mat-Su Miners downed the Peninsula Oilers 6-2 to earn a spot in the Top of the World Series Championship for a 2022 rematch against the Anchorage Glacier Pilots.

Miners starter Ethan Lyke dealt eight innings and earned the quintessential win in the elimination Game Three. The Murray State-product allowed two runs on nine hits, striking out four en route to the victory.

Fellow left-hander Mario Bejarano came on for the ninth inning and shut the door. The Central Arizona Community College-product shoved, taking down the Oilers bats in order for the win.

The Mat-Su bats came together with nine hits, stringing together three multi-knock frames.

Miners third baseman Alex Thurston had not started a single playoff game, but Head Coach Ty LeBrun called upon the Valparaiso-product for a big moment, and he delivered. The Indiana-native slammed three hits including a double and an R.B.I.

The one frame in which Thurston recorded an out proved to be the Miners most-productive inning; Mat-Su scored a trio of runs in the bottom of the sixth inning off of a triple from right fielder Kaden Carpenter and a double from second baseman Nolan Tucker.

The M’s added a pair of insurance markers in the eighth inning thanks to a sacrifice fly from center fielder Sebastian Tomerlin as well as a base knock from Thurston.

Now, the Miners set their sights on the Glacier Pilots, who grabbed the A.B.L. Title last season over the Valley. Inclement weather turned the Champion Series into a one-off, and Mat-Su lost the title game, but this year, provided the elements cooperate, the August Classic will be a best-of-three on the Alaska State Fairgrounds in Palmer at Hermon Brothers Field.

First pitch on Friday night is set for 6 p.m.