Miners score another win over the Oilers

PALMER — Despite falling behind early, the Peninsula Oilers found a way to make a game of it. But after the Oilers scored three in the fifth, and were potentially on the verge of more, the defense stepped up for the Mat-Su Miners.

Mat-Su used an inning-ending double play to kill the Peninsula rally and the Miners held on for a 7-5 Alaska Baseball League win over the Oilers on a sunny Friday night at Hermon Brothers Field in Palmer.

“They took what they got and a big double play got us out of that inning,” Mat-Su infielder Caleb Van Blake said after the win. “And we got momentum on our side again.”

Mat-Su Miners skipper Ben Taylor said the Miners showed late-season maturity.

“That’s where the game gets tough and you trust your guys, you trust that they’ve toughened up as they summer’s gone on, and they proved that,” Taylor said.

The Miners used the win to improve to 23-14, and now hold a 3.5-game lead over the Anchorage Bucs (19-17) in the ABL. The Oilers (19-19) dropped to third with the loss. It’s Mat-Su’s second win in three nights over the Oilers.

“We’ve got a good trend going,” Van Blake said.

The Miners had only a two-game lead in the standings before beating the Oilers 6-3 Wednesday.

“This thing could have been wide-open,” Taylor said.

After dropping their first two games of the season against the Oilers in June, Mat-Su finished 7-1 against the Kenai club in the last eight.

“That’s a really tough team,” Taylor said. “They compete every at-bat. Every out was contested.”

The Miners jumped out to a 5-0 lead through the first two innings, and finished with 10 hits, including three doubles, in the win.

“I’ve got to give a lot of credit to assistant coach Tyler LeBrun,” Taylor said. “Tyler puts together the hitting game plan for all the pitchers we see, and he’s put together some unbelievable plans the last week or so. And the guys did a good job executing.”

LeBrun is the older brother of former Miners pitcher Calvin LeBrun, who helped Mat-Su win its second straight ABL title last summer.

Jonathan Guardado earned the win on the mound, and Malachi Emond and Bryce Tassin combined for 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.

Six different Miners drove in at least a run. Aaron Walters led Mat-Su with two hits and two RBI. Tyler Bosetti added two hits and two runs. Spencer Henson walked twice and scored twice.

Mat-Su returns to the field to play Chugiak Saturday at 6 p.m. at Lee Jordan Field in Chugiak.

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