Miners beat Bucs in 12th

ANCHORAGE — After squeezing past Anchorage, Mat-Su gained some breathing room and eventually blasted the Bucs.

The Miners scored five runs in the 12th to earn a 6-1 Alaska Baseball League win over the Bucs Saturday night at Mulcahy Stadium in Anchorage.

Mat-Su reliever Spencer Henson used a big breaking ball to catch the final Bucs hitter looking and record the final out at 11:46 p.m. AST, to cap nearly seven hours of doubleheader baseball. Anchorage scored a walk-off win in the first game, but the Miners used their efforts in the 12th inning to force the split and improve to 5-6 overall.

With the rivals tied at 1 in the 12th, Brett Owen laid down the bunt and Tyler Bosetti beat the throw to home and scored on the squeeze play to give the Miners the 2-1 lead. Two batters later, Miners catcher Austin Pinorini used a two-run double to pad Mat-Su’s advantage. Henson, a pitcher and designated hitter in the game, also drove in a run in the 12th.

Henson, a two-way player at Oral Roberts, made his first appearance on the mound since March 21, early in the college season. Henson, a second-year Miner and All-Alaska Baseball League selection at starting pitcher for the ABL champion Miners last year, played primarily at first base during the college season. But Henson, known as “Bubba,” responded Saturday, tossing three scoreless innings of relief to earn the win on the mound.

Henson also gave the Miners the first lead of the game, driving in Drew Swift in the third. The Bucs tied the score in the fourth.

Anchorage grabbed a 4-3 win in the first win of the doubleheader, thanks to JC Correa’s walk-off single. Correa, younger brother of Carlos Correa of the Houston Astros, drove in Willy Escala.

Mat-Su trailed 3-1 in the fourth, but used runs in the fifth and sixth to tie the score. David Avitia scored in the top of the fourth to give Mat-Su a 1-0 lead. Henson singled and scored on a Tyler Bosetti double in the fifth to cut Anchorage’s lead to 3-2 in the fifth. Danny Wright crossed home on a passed ball in the sixth to tie the score in the sixth.

The Miners have two days off before returning to the field to host Chugiak in a doubleheader scheduled to start at 4 p.m. at Hermon Brothers Field.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.