Miners blast Oilers, sweep series

PALMER — Hunter Simmons has spent most of the summer playing a reserve role for the Alaska Baseball League leading Mat-Su Miners. But Simmons earned a spot in the starting lineup Tuesday and Wednesday, and the University of Utah product came up big for the Miners.

In a pair of games, Simmons collected seven hits in nine plate appearances, and helped lead the Miners to a two-game sweep of the Peninsula Oilers. Wednesday, Simmons drove in two and scored twice to help the Miners score a 17-1 win over the Oilers, Mat-Su’s most lopsided victory in more than eight seasons.

“He hasn’t started a game in like three weeks. He’s making a bid to play a little more. You’ve got to tip your hat to a guy who has stayed that locked in and worked that hard,” Mat-Su head coach Ben Taylor said of Simmons.

During the two victories, Simmons was 7 of 9 at the plate, with a double, a home run, four runs scored and four RBI. In Tuesday’s 11-4 win over Peninsula, Simmons was 4 for 4 and also walked, reaching base during each of his five trips to the plate. Simmons had a streak of reaching base on eight straight plate appearances snapped in his second at-bat Wednesday. That streak dated back to July 9, and included a hit in his one at-bat July 9 and a walk in his one plate appearance July 10.

“I’ve been seeing it well. I’ve been feeling confident,” Simmons said after the win Wednesday. “I’ve stayed within myself, and tried not to do too much.”

Wednesday, Simmons saw two balls off his bat bounce of the top of the left field wall. One came back into play, and was good enough for a double. Another bounced off the top of the wall and over the fence for his first home run of the summer.

In the fifth, with the Miners leading 2-0, Simmons doubled off the top of the left field wall to drive in his team’s third run. In the sixth, Simmons bounced a ball off the top of the wall and over for a solo shot.

“The first one I thought was gone, and of course it bounces back in. The second one, I didn’t think it was gone at all. A line drive, I thought it was off the wall, and I look up, it went off the wall again, and it went over,” Simmons said. “I was like of course, the one that I thought was out doesn’t go out. The one that I thought wasn’t going out, goes out.”

Simmons was one of two to homer for the Miners, and seven to drive in at least one run to help Mat-Su grab its most lopsided victory since the Miners beat Three Rivers (Oregon) 20-1 in a nonleague victory June 16, 2007.

Outfielder Chris Hall also cracked a home run Wednesday, sending a three-run shot over the right field fence during the Miners’ five-run inning.

Brick Paskiewicz also had three RBI in the game. Simmons, Alex Caruso and Tyler Wolfe drove in two runs each. Matt Diorio and Caleb Wood also had an RBI each.

Wood enjoyed his biggest night of the summer at the plate. The Gonzaga product was 3 for 3 with an RBI and five runs scored.

“It was another good night for Woody. His confidence is pretty high. He’s played pretty well over the last week or so,” Taylor said.

The Miners finished with 17 hits in 39 at-bats Wednesday, pushing their ABL-leading team batting average to .275. The Miners are 34 points better than the next best, Peninsula’s .241 batting average.

Four Mat-Su pitchers combined to allow only three hits and one earned run Wednesday, lowering another league-leading statistic in the process. Mat-Su also leads the ABL with a 1.52 team earned run average.

Starter Calvin LeBrun retired 12 of the first 13 Oilers hitters he faced, and didn’t allow a hit until Brent Diaz’s leadoff triple in the top of the fifth. Trent Thompson, Corbin Martin and Paskiewicz pitched an inning of scoreless relief each.

With the wins, Mat-Su improved to 25-7 overall and 23-7 in league play. The Miners hold a nine-game lead over the Anchorage Glacier Pilots (13-15) in the ABL Northern Division standings.

Tuesday, Diorio tripled and drove in three runs to lead the Miners to the 11-4 win over the Oilers. Jake Schleppenbach added two hits and a season-high three RBI.

Eight different Miners had at least one hit, seven different scored at least one run and six different players had at least one RBI.

“We’re getting contributions from everybody. It’s fun to see,” Taylor said.

James Harrington pitched six innings to earn his fourth win of the summer.

Mat-Su begins play today in the annual ABL/MLB Scouts Showcase. The Miners face Chugiak today at 1 p.m. at Mulcahy Stadium in Anchorage, and play the Anchorage Glacier Pilots Saturday at 1 p.m. at Mulcahy.

The ABL Home Run Derby and ABL All-Star Game are slated for Sunday, at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. See the Sunday edition of the Frontiersman for the complete list of ABL all-stars.