Miner excitement

PALMER — Good things come in twos.

The Mat-Su Miners used four consecutive two-run innings and got a two-run homer from Ty Rasmussen to hold off the Bears of California 8-7 Saturday night in the season-opener at Hermon Brothers Field in Palmer.

The Miners survived a wild five-run eighth inning rally by the Bears, then got a no-hit ninth from flame-throwing reliever Michael Rocha, who earned the save.

Jeremy Atkins pitched three innings of two-hit ball to pick up the win in relief of starter Mike Carlson, a Palmer High graduate who gave up just one hit in four innings of work.

“I was pretty happy with the result,” Carlson said after going four strong innings.

Carlson said he enjoyed getting the start in front of the large crowd of hometown fans.

“I was excited, and a little nervous,” said Carlson, a 2006 graduate of Palmer High. “There were a lot of people here, and I’m just proud to be playing for my hometown.”

California took the early lead on an unearned run in the first inning. Leadoff hitter Kevin Ayers opened the game with a walk, then advanced to second on a Nate Wallin groundout. Ayers stole third, and came around to score when catcher Steve Domecus’ throw sailed into left field.

Mat-Su didn’t pick up a hit until the third inning, when speedy third baseman Blake Newalu easily beat out a textbook bunt down the third base line.

Newalu, who just completed his senior year at Henry County High School in McDonough, Ga, showed his defensive skills in the next half-inning. With runners on second and third and two outs, California second baseman Curtis Cosby hit a sharp ground ball behind third base. Mat-Su’s young infielder came up with the ball cleanly behind the bag, then launched a rocket from across the diamond to get Cosby by a half-step and save a run.

“Our defense played really good today,” Carlson said.

Mat-Su took advantage of a defensive lapse by the Bears to take the lead in the fourth. After Rasmussen walked, Miners right fielder Kyle Jensen hit a routine double-play ball to Ayers, California’s shortstop. But Ayers’ throw to second ended up in right field, allowing Rasmussen to go to third and advancing Jensen to second.

One batter later, Mat-Su first baseman Troy Scott lined a double that hit the chalk down the left field line, scoring both runners.

Carlson gave way to Atkins to start the top of the fifth after giving up just one unearned run and one hit in four innings of work. The former Moose standout struck out five and walked two, leaving the game with his team holding a 2-1 lead.

Mat-Su started to stretch its lead in the fifth, going up 4-1 when Rasmussen blasted a two-run homer high over the city of Wasilla sign in center field. Rasmussen’s blast brought back memories of last year’s season-opener, when the University of Washington product had a grand slam and nine RBI in his Miners debut.

“That guy’s a straight-up monster,” Carlson said of Rasmussen. “That was a 420-foot absolute bomb.”

Rasmussen finished the game 1-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBI for the Miners, who also got two hits each from second baseman John Shaffer, Newalu and Jensen.

Shaffer and Scott each drove in two runs.

California got a run back in the sixth against Atkins on a two-out RBI single by California catcher Josh Daniel, but the Bears saw their rally cut short when Newalu came up with another stellar defensive play, charging in on the grass and firing a strike to first to rob Cosby of an infield hit for the second time in the game.

Mat-Su used a two-out rally to pick up two more runs in the bottom of the sixth when Shaffer followed a walk to center fielder Pat Minogue and double by Newalu with a two-run single to put the Miners

up 6-2.

The Miners continued to pile on the runs in the seventh, getting one run when California reliever John Greene hit Domecus with the bases loaded and another on an RBI sacrifice fly by Minogue.

Mat-Su reliever Andrew Berger got into a jam in the eighth, allowing a run and loading the bases before being lifted in favor of Will Munson, who promptly walked the first batter he faced to force in another run.

Munson then stuck out California’s Brandon Ottenwalter on a wicked breaking pitch in the dirt, but instead of ending the inning, the bizarre strike out ended up scoring two runs for the Bears when the pitch got away from Domecus and caromed behind home plate. By the time the Mat-Su catcher retrieved the ball, both Josh Daniel and Cosby had come around to score.

Munson walked the next batter he faced to again load the bases, and when Ayers lined a single into center, it looked as if the Bears might tie the game. California’s Andy Hebrard scored easily from third on the play, but Minogue’s throw from center was on target, cutting down Ottenwalter at the plate to end a wild half-inning with the Miners clinging to an 8-7

lead.

California got one runner aboard in the ninth, but Rocha was able to get Josh Daniel to ground out to short to end the game.

Contact Matt Tunseth at 352-2265 or matt.tunseth@frontiersman.com