Miners bring big bats to Showcase

ANCHORAGE — The Alaska Baseball League/MBL Showcase Home Run Derby is scheduled for Sunday afternoon. Apparently, these guys missed the memo.

In the continuation of a power surge this season in the ABL, four bombs dropped on Mulcahy Stadium in a pitcher’s nightmare as the Mat-Su Miners scored a 10-9 seven-inning win over the Peninsula Oilers during the first day of the ABL/MLB Showcase at Mulcahy Stadium in Anchorage on Friday.

Infielder Branden Berry provided the power for the Miners with a home run. Tino Lipson tripled for Mat-Su, which has 14 total home runs this year as a team. Miners outfielder Bill Cullen leads the league with seven.

“We knew we would have speed, but we were surprised by our power numbers this year,” Miners head coach Chris Gordon said.

Peninsula’s Trey Richardson wasted no time starting the slugfest, hitting a home run of more than 400 feet over the left center field fence, which drove in teammate Jordan Hein in the top of the first inning.

But the Miners were able to answer Richardson’s shot.

Lipson, who is hitting .643 over his last five games, continued his hot streak at the plate. In the third inning, Lipson tripled and later scored on a Bobby Boyd sacrifice fly.

In the fourth, the Miners capitalized on Oiler mistakes. With two outs, Chris Taladay reached on a dropped third strike and stumbled down the line to beat out the throw and put pressure on the Oilers. Tanner Anderson and Bob Arens singled softly to load the bases for Lipson.

Lipson singled to drive in two more runs.

The Miners exploded in the fifth. Sparked by the Berry home run that drove in Clint Freeman, Mat-Su scored six in the inning. A Nash Knight single and three walks set up Boyd’s two-run single.

For the Oilers, Nate Ring continued his tear on Mat-Su pitching with his second home run in two nights against the Miners. Ring also pitched in the game, walking two batters before returning to the outfield. His replacements did not do much better.

Starter John Straka threw two scoreless innings, striking out four. The four pitchers in between Straka and Nigel Nootbaar threw 2 2/3 innings and gave up nine runs. Nootbaar went 2 1/3 innings, striking out three and allowing one run.

Aaron Luchterhand picked up the win for the Miners, throwing two scoreless innings in relief.

Miners 5, Goldpanners 2

The Miners improved to 2-0 in the Showcase on Saturday, outlasting the rain and the Alaska Goldpanners. Mat-Su led 5-2 when the game was called due to rain in the fifth inning.

Boyd sparked the Miners again Saturday. The second of his game-high three hits drove in Ian Sagdal and Lipson, who had both walked earlier in the inning. Ian Miller drove in Boyd, and the Miners would not look back from there.

Paul Polti saw a 1-0 pitch he liked and sent it over the left field fence in the bottom half of the second inning to put the Panners on the board.

Chris Taladay nearly joined his mammoth corner infield counterpart Berry among the home runs list, but instead his ball fell just short of the center field fence 410 feet from home plate. Taladay hustled around the bases for a triple and scored when Ian Sagdal hit into a double play.

In the fifth inning, Berry launched his second home run in as many days, this one a no-doubt shot over the left center field fence.

Harvard freshmen Tanner Anderson threw 2 1/3 innings for the win, striking out three.