Retiring teacher, coach urges Colony grads to ‘find their 68’
By Jeremiah Bartz Frontiersman.com A football coach using a hockey reference as the centerpiece for his keynote address may
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PALMER — Tonight the Mat-Su Miners start their longest road trip of the summer against a team they are battling for the Alaska Baseball League title.
First place Mat-Su (20-8) meets the Alaska Goldpanners (20-10) tonight at Growden Park in Fairbanks in a battle of the top two teams in the ABL.
“We’re going to try to stay right there with (the Goldpanners), come back home and win it out-right at home,” Raley said of the Miners, who will play nine games during a seven-day trip to Fairbanks before returning home to Hermon Brothers Field for the final five games of the regular season.
Mat-Su’s stay in Fairbanks starts with four against the Panners before beginning a five-game series against AIA. Other than those games against the Fire, Mat-Su will play one of the top three teams in the league nine of the final 14 games of the season. The Miners host the third-place Peninsula Oilers July 28-29.
Mat-Su had been, arguably, the hottest team in the ABL, winning 11 straight before falling to the Oilers 7-2 on Sunday.
“I really thought that gave us a shot in the arm when we needed it, in a spot of the season where things could have really gone south before going to Fairbanks,” Raley said.
Raley said, other than facing the typical late-season battles that any team endures, his team is ready for the final push.
“Guys are beat up a little bit, it’s a long season,” Raley said. “But we’re probably in the same boat as everyone else.”
The Miners enjoyed an offensive surge during the winning streak and are hitting .301 as a team. The Mat-Su pitching staff continues to be stellar, sporting a team earned run average of 1.69.
Following the road trip, which ends Monday with a matinee against AIA, the Miners return home July 28 for the first of five games.
Following a two-game set against the Oilers, Mat-Su hosts a doubleheader agianst the Panners on July 30 and plays the Panners in the season finale on July 31.
Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.
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