Miners open postseason with walk-off win

The Mat-Su Miners were one strike away from falling behind early in the postseason. But Tyler Wilson came through in the clutch for the Miners.

Facing two strikes and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Wilson, a Grand Canyon University product, punched a ball up the middle and drove in two runs to lead Mat-Su to a 5-4 walk-off win over the Anchorage Bucs during the first game of a best-of-3 Alaska Baseball League semifinal series Friday night at Hermon Brothers Field in Palmer.

“Anything close, put it into play,” Wilson said of once he hit two strikes.

Patrick Donovan scored the game-tying run easily and Ricky Nunez beat a play at the plate to give the Miners the win. As Nunez slid through home, the dugout emptied and the Miners mobbed Wilson in the infield.

“It feels amazing to come through for the team like that in such a big situation,” Wilson said.

The Miners, who entered the ABL postseason as the top seed with a 29-6 regular season record, have had a knack for producing late-game heroics this summer. Mat-Su general manager Pete Christopher calls his group the “cardiac kids.”

“They’ve got a lot of fight in them. There’s no end to these guys,” Mat-Su head coach Tyler LeBrun said.

Mat-Su entered the bottom of the ninth trailing 4-2. Aaron Walters sparked the rally with a lead-off single. Donovan and Nunez followed with consecutive walks to load the bases. With Wilson at the plate, Walters scored on a wild pitch to cut Anchorage’s lead to 4-3. Wilson capped the game with the two-run single.

Evan Floyd pitched 1 ⅔ scoreless innings to earn the win on the mound in relief. Mat-Su starter Will Johnston was dominant, fanning 10 while walking only one during six innings of work. The only blemish was Diego Baqueiro’s shot that gave the Bucs a two-run lead in the top of the first.

The Miners bounced back quickly, with a two-run second. Donovan used a single to drive in Nick Cirelli and Casey Rother, and tie the game at 2.

The Miners and Bucs will meet in the second game of the semifinal series Saturday at 6 p.m. at Hermon Brothers Field. With a win, Mat-Su clinches a spot in the ABL Championship series. An Anchorage win would force a third game Sunday at 3 p.m.

Contact Frontiersman managing editor Jeremiah Bartz at editor@frontiersman.com.