Miners beat Bucs twice, add to ABL lead

Nate Rolka came through with the biggest pitch of the night on the final play of the game.

The Mat-Su reliever forced Cody Grebeck to fly out with two outs and the bases load to secure a 2-1 win over the Anchorage Bucs at Hermon Brothers Field in Palmer.

Rolka earned his first save of the summer after allowing a hit and striking out a batter during an inning of work.

The victory pushed Mat-Su to 10-2 in the Alaska Baseball League. Mat-Su, the lone squad with a winning record through the first two full weeks of the season, has a 5.5-game lead. The Miners have also won four straight.

Mat-Su starter Michael Yates scattered two hits, three walks, four strikeouts and an earned run over five innings, and earned the win on the mound.

Mat-Su scored both of its runs in the fifth. Pinch-runner Nathan Rose scored on a Josh Paino single to tie the score at 1. Casey Sunseri drove in Brandon Heidel with another single to give Mat-Su the 2-1 lead. Carter Young led Mat-Su with two hits in the win.

It was Mat-Su’s second win of the day Monday. The Miners also scored a 6-5 walk-off win over the Bucs in a game that was originally played on June 7, but suspended due to darkness in the 10th inning.

Mat-Su started it’s four-game winning streak with a 15-5 victory over Chugiak on June 17. Blake Avila drove in a team-high four runs. Young, Rose, Heidal and Alex Vergara had two RBI each. Sunseri, Young and Avila scored three runs each.

RJ Elmore earned the win in relief.

The Miners followed with a 5-1 win over the Peninsula Oilers on June 18. Sunseri had two hits and two RBI. Avila also had a pair of hits. Owen Loesch pitched three innings of relief and earned the win.

The Miners also held on to beat Chugiak 8-6 on June 19. Young, Sunseri and Avila had two RBI each. Jacob Steele scored twice, and was one of seven Miners with a run.

Liam Hatakenaka earned the win on the mound in relief.

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