Miners pound Goldpanners

July 15, 2007

By Jeremiah Bartz/ Frontiersman

ANCHORAGE - The Mat-Su Miners have had some fast starts and some great finishes.

But sometimes the Valley ball club has had some trouble in the middle innings.

&#8220I just think we need to start taking care of the middle of the baseball game,” Mat-Su head coach Jeff Pritchard said after the Miners allowed four sixth-inning runs in a 6-3 loss to the Athletes In Action Fire on Friday. &#8220We need to play a complete game. We need to play nine innings of baseball.”

On Saturday, Pritchard saw his team play a complete game.

The Miners scored multiple runs in the second, third and fifth innings and rolled to an 11-2 win over the Alaska Goldpanners at Mulcahy Stadium.

Mat-Su (15-5 in Alaska Baseball League play) enjoyed its best day at the plate in the month of July, collecting 14 hits en route to scoring 11 runs.

Left fielder Joey August led the charge, finishing the contest 3-for-4 with three runs driven in.

Designated hitter Michael Ewing, first baseman Ryan Conan, catcher Jay McConnell and second baseman Gunner Terhune each finished with two hits.

Conan also drove in three runs.

Mat-Su jumped to the early 1-0 lead in the first when center fielder Carl Uhl scored on a Ewing single.

Uhl scored again in the second when he and McConnell each trotted across home plate after an August single.

Ewing followed with his second run-scoring single of the night.

Ben Price blew the game open for the Miners in the third, with a two-run single. McConnell and Conan also drove in runs in the inning.

Conan sealed the win for the Miners with a two-run home run in the fifth.

Jason Erickson earned his third win of the season, pitching five strong innings. He allowed eight hits, struck out two and walked just one.

On Friday, AIA took advantage of four uncharacteristic Mat-Su errors to claim the win over the Miners and move into a temporary tie with Mat-Su at the top of the ABL standings.

Mat-Su committed two of those errors during AIA's four-run fourth.

The games this weekend are part of the ABL/Major League Baseball Scout Showcase. The three-day event was created by the league's general managers to attract more MLB scouts to Alaska.

Mat-Su general manager Pete Christopher said about 10 scouts were at Hermon Brothers Field on Friday.

The Showcase schedule included four games at Mulcahy on Saturday. Among the scheduled games today is a rematch between the Miners at AIA at 4 p.m.

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