Miners score win over Goldpanners, stay undefeated in ABL Showcase

ANCHORAGE — The second is becoming the Mat-Su Miners’ inning.

For the second straight day the Miners used three runs in the second inning to score a win in the ABL/Major League Baseball Showcase.

Steve Domecus, Blake Newalu and Sean Rockey each scored in the second to spark Mat-Su’s 5-2 win over the Alaska Goldpanners at Mulcahy Stadium on Saturday.

Domecus walked and scored to put the Miners on the board, Newalu singled and scored, and Kevin Rodland followed Rockey’s RBI-single with a run-scoring double to give the Miners the early 3-0 advantage.

Kyle Jensen and Troy Scott, who led the Miners with two hits each, also drove in runs in the game.

Mat-Su starter Jason Erickson also helped the Miners improve to 13-11 in ABL play by throwing six innings of one-run ball.

Erickson, pitching in his second summer with the Miners, fanned three hitters, while allowing five hits and one eared run.

Will Musson and Michael Rocha combined for three innings of work in relief.

Jensen gave the Miners the 4-1 advantage with a solo home run in the fourth inning. The dinger was the St. Marys standout’s third of the ABL season.

Mat-Su took the 5-1 lead when Jenson scored on a Scott double in the seventh inning.

Casey Stevenson hit a solo home run and Adam Gaylord scored on a Mat-Su error to lead the Goldpanners.

The Miners improved to 2-0 in the annual Showcase, with the victory, and will try to run the table when they face the Anchorage Bucs today at 7 p.m.

Scouts from more than a dozen Major League Baseball clubs are attending the round-robin style event that includes all six ABL teams.

Mat-Su scored a 5-3 win over the Peninsula Oilers on Friday.

The Miners return home to host the AIA Fire in a two-game series at Hermon Brothers on Tuesday and Wednesday. Each game is set to start at 6 p.m.

— Jeremiah Bartz