Miners open season Monday

PALMER — Rather than hosting a few non-league opponents to start the season, Mat-Su general manager Pete Christopher decided the Miners would do something a bit different this year.

Mat-Su will play the Anchorage Glacier Pilots in three, seven-inning exhibition games early next week, before hosting the Anchorage Bucs in its official Alaska Baseball League opener on Thursday.

In the past, teams such as the Lake Erie Monarchs, Stockton Senators and California Dons would make the trip to Alaska to play the ABL teams for a few nonleague games. But every time Mat-Su hosts a squad from outside the ABL, the Miners get the bill for the opponents’ accommodations.

But this season, the Miners and Pilots found a more economically sensible way to get some extra work in.

“It’s just to expensive,” Christopher said about bringing teams from Outside to the Valley.

The Miners and Pilots, who will meet in eight official ABL games later in the summer, will play just seven innings during the exhibition contests, to prevent wear on small pitching staffs. Christopher said the Miners will be without about a dozen players on opening day. Most of those players are still competing in the regional round of the NCAA tournament.

ABL players typically trickle into Alaska during the first week to 10 days of the season.

The Miners will celebrate their opening day Monday at Hermon Brothers Field, facing the Pilots at 7 p.m.

The contest will be the first of 46 games scheduled in 55 days. Mat-Su will play 42 total ABL games, 21 at Hermon Brothers and another 21 on the road. The Miners will also play an exhibition game against the Anchorage All-Stars adult league team on July 3.

Among the highlights on the scheduled are a pair of home doubleheaders — against the Bucs on June 20 and Alaska Goldpanners on July 30 — and three games in the annual ABL MLB Showcase at Mulcahy Stadium in Anchorage.

The Showcase, which runs July 1-18, was designed to give Major League scouts the opportunity to see all six ABL teams over the weekend at the same location.

For more on the Miners and a preview of the 2010 season, see the Sunday edition of the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman.

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