Miners jump to quick lead during win over Pilots

PALMER — A quick lead led to a lopsided win for the Mat-Su Miners.

Mat-Su scored five in the first and posted an 8-1 victory over the Anchorage Glacier Pilots Sunday at Hermon Brothers Field in Palmer.

“It’s always kind of the goal,” Miners outfielder Danny Wright said after the win. “You want to get on them, you want to score first. Set us up for the rest of the game.”

Five of the first six hitters in the Mat-Su lineup scored during the opening inning. Seven of the nine starters crossed the plate at least once in the win.

“That’s what we’re here to do,” Wright said. “Everybody in the lineup’s got a great bat.”

Wright, a Southeast Missouri State sophomore, finished 3 for 3 at the plate, drove in two and scored twice.

“I like it a lot,” Miners head coach Ben Taylor said of Wright’s production. “He’s a switch-hitter, super athletic and can handle the bat. He can really be a complete player for us.”

Shortstop Drew Swift sparked the Miners with a leadoff single in the bottom of the first and quickly scored on a Hunter Jump double to give Mat-Su the early lead.

“He’s the table-setter,” Taylor said of Swift, an Arizona State freshman. “We’re going to give him a good look as the leadoff man. If he gets on base, he can really make things happen.”

Wright scored on an Anchorage balk to give Mat-Su the 2-0 lead. Kona Quiggle drove in Jump with a single. David Avitia scored on a fielder’s choice. Quiggle crossed home on a passed ball to round out the scoring in the first.

“It was a good way to start for us,” Taylor said.

Taylor said it also took pressure of his starter, Arizona State freshman Brady Corrigan, who earned the win after allowing two hits and an earned run over four innings. Josh Haley pitched three innings of scoreless relief.

“I’m really happy with it,” Taylor said of the pitching.

Wright led the Miners with three hits, two runs and two RBI in the win. Jump added two hits and two RBI.

Anchorage needed extra innings to force a doubleheader split with the Miners later Sunday evening.

A pair of seven-inning games were scheduled. Anchorage scored a 6-5 victory over the Miners in nine innings in the second game.

Anchorage’s Alex Stiegler gave the Pilots the win with a two-out, two-run single in the top of the ninth. Mat-Su was able to answer with one run in the bottom of the inning when Hunter Jump doubled and scored on an Austin Pinorini single, but the Miners could not get the equalizer.

The Miners did force extra innings with a pair in the bottom of the seventh. Mat-Su trailed 4-2 entering the final inning of regulation. Mat-Su cashed in on a pair of Anchorage errors. Avitia reached on an error. Brayden Merritt, pinch-running for Avitia, scored the game-tying run on a Jump single. Owens, who singled, in the inning also scored on an Anchorage error to cut Anchorage’s lead to one.

The Miners finished with a dozen hits in the loss. Bosetti, Jump, Pinorini and Owen finished with two hits each.

Mat-Su (3-2) returns to the field Monday at 7 p.m. to face Chugiak at Loretta French Field.

Miners outfielder breaks up no-hit bid

Chugiak starter Jared Reklaitis tossed a one-hitter during a 7-1 win over Mat-Su Monday evening at Loretta French Field in Chugiak.

Reklaitis, a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee senior, took a perfect game into the ninth inning. After retiring 25 straight Miners, Mat-Su infielder Brett Owen drew a walk to give the Miners their first baserunner of the game. The next hitter, outfielder Brayden Merritt, singled to break up the no-hit bid. Owen recorded Mat-Su’s lone run with two outs in the final inning, scoring when Tyler Bossetti reached on a Chugiak error.

The Chinooks collected 14 hits in the game, and scored four of their seven runs in the eighth inning.

Mat-Su dropped to 3-3 with the loss.

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