Miners score win over the Glacier Pilots

In the early part of July, the Mat-Su Miners have lived under the mentality of the late Al Davis, “just win baby.” On Friday night, they looked to keep up that philosophy in action in addition to clinching a share of the season series vs. the Anchorage Glacier Pilots. While many of Mat-Su’s wins have been in dominant fashion as of late, this was a game where they would have to prove they could take it home with their backs against the wall.

The Miners scored a 2-1 win over the Pilots.

While there are always uncertainties that can be found in the Alaska Baseball League, one thing that is for certain is that the Miners pitching staff will always step up. In this game, staff ace Ryan Peterson would take the mound for the fourth time this season and deliver one of the most incredible performances of the season. However, the game would start off troublesome for Peterson as he would allow the bases to get loaded and let Rodrgio Barajas cash in for an RBI Single to give the Pilots a 1-0 lead in the top half of the first inning. The Mat-Su offense was held silent in the bottom half of the first outside of a Dom Patrizi Single. Colin Hunter started off on the mound for the Pilots and proved that he was going to be a worthy competitor to Peterson.

In the second, Peterson would leave no room for the Pilots to take off by striking out the only three batters in the inning to get to four total K’s. The bottom of the second saw Mat-Su answer the call offensively with Chase Wilcox and Brandyn Durand delivering a walk and a single to put Kellen Strohmeyer in a position to tie the game for the Miners. He would indeed deliver a clutch RBI Single to score Wilcox from second and tie the game at 1. After this point, scoring was truly at a premium.

In the top of the third, Peterson would face trouble again as the Pilots would load the bases for the second time. However, they would not be able to overcome the Strikeout Special as Peterson would strike out three more batters throughout the course of the frame and end the frame by stranding three runners on base for the Pilots. Of all the moments in the game, this may have been the most pivotal of them all. The Miners offense was 1-2-3 in the bottom half of the inning which would lead to the stalemate continuing on.

Peterson was unrelenting as the game winded its way through the fourth and fifth innings. He would fire in several more strikeouts to the point where it almost became a foregone conclusion. After another strikeout in the top of the fifth, Peterson ended the inning with 10 total K’s which tied him with Rocco Bernadina for the most in a single game this season. There is a chance that Peterson could have continued on, but the fifth would end up being his last. Instead someone who had been on the shelf got their chance to shine down the stretch.

Mat-Su called on the services of Ben Detaeye to start things off in the top of the sixth inning. Detaeye had been dealing with injury issues throughout the course of the season leading up to this game, so it was relieving for Miners fans to see him back on the bump. If there was any worry of rust, he quickly put that to bed by retiring the first three batters with strikeouts in quick succession. The great pitching was needed as the Mat-Su offense still struggled to find any relief from their drought in the middle part of the game. In the bottom of the sixth, things looked promising as Mat-Su would load the bases thanks to several walks from the new Pilots Pitcher Payton Allen. However, Kellen Strohmeyere who brought in the lone run for Mat-Su in the game would also strikeout to a pitch from Allen to strand three runners on base for the Miners. This chess match was far from over.

Anchorage came close in the seventh inning with Dylan Marx getting all the way to third base only to watch as Jacob Kowes struck out to Detaeye to end the frame. However Mat-Su was once again frustrated in the bottom frame as they could only get to second base with Dom Patrizi and no further. At this point, it felt as though whoever scored the next run would likely take this game. In the top of the eighth, the Pilots would stay on the ground with a ground out, a fly out, and a strikeout to give the Miners a chance to take control. Finally, the 8th Inning would be the charm for Mat-Su offensively. Kyle McCausland would reach first base on a hit-by-pitch and then advance to third on two ground outs. Chase Wilcox, who scored the 1st Run of the game for Mat-Su would this time drive in McCausland on a sensational RBI double to right field. It was the breakthrough that Mat-Su had long been aching for, and they certainly got it. With a 2-1 lead, Mat-Su was now just three outs away from victory.

Drew Koenen has now certainly established his spot as the closer for the Miners and would reinforce that with his performance at the end of this game. He would start with a strikeout on Troy Sanders. Then he would watch as Dylan Marx popped up a ball to first base and Luke Heefner flied a ball out to center field. At last, the game was theirs.

With this 2-1 win over the Anchorage Glacier Pilots, Mat-Su has kept their spot tied at second in the ABL standings with the Peninsula Oilers. The Miners have now won five of their last six games and have an 11-9 record overall on the season.