Miners show their power

July 10, 2007

By Jeremiah Bartz/ Frontiersman

PALMER - Hermon Brothers Field has never been considered a hitters' park.

In the wood bat era of the Alaska Baseball League, the spacious field that sits inside the Alaska State Fairgrounds in Palmer has been a place where a double into the gap is considered the big knock. It's been the ABL version of Safeco Field or Petco Park.

And normally, the team that calls Hermon Brothers home, the Mat-Su Miners, is never considered to be a home run power.

But something has changed this season. There's moments where Hermon Brothers feels more like Coors Field than Safeco.

The Miners are knocking balls out of Hermon Brothers at a tremendous rate. Tremendous, at least, for the Miners.

Mat-Su has already hit eight home runs at Hermon Brothers, and nine long balls total. And there's still 19 games to play.

Last season the Miners managed to hit just three home runs all season, and a Joey August grand slam late in the year marked the team's only home run at its home park.

Mat-Su opponents combined for only four home runs at Hermon Brothers during the summer.

In 2005, the Miners hit a total of 11 dingers. Five of those were hit at Hermon Brothers.

In 2004, six of the Miners' 15 long balls came at home.

And in 2004, Mat-Su only had eight shots go over the fence all season.

&#8220This park is pretty big and the wind does not fly that well here,” Mat-Su first baseman Michael Ewing said after he hit his fourth home run of the season against the Peninsula Oilers last week.

But despite the average conditions that don't really favor the slugger, Ewing said the 2007 cast of the Miners feel pretty comfortable hitting at Hermon Brothers. Plus, it doesn't hurt the Miners have a lineup with some pop.

&#8220We've got a few guys who can hit the long ball pretty well,” Ewing said.

Ewing, a Southern Mississippi product, currently leads the squad with five dingers. His fifth came Friday, a walk-off three-run home run that gave the Miners a 6-5 win over the Anchorage Bucs.

Ty Rasmussen has two, and August and Carl Uhl each have one.

Rasmussen enjoyed a grand debut with the Miners. In the season opener, the University of Washington designated hitter blasted both a grand slam and a two-run shot. He drove in nine runs in the 20-1 win over Three Rivers (Ore.).

Rasmussen's grand slam was one of two for the Miners this season.

Uhl posted the first grand slam of his entire baseball career in a 9-2 win over Peninsula last week.

Mat-Su head coach Jeff Pritchard said there is certainly some power in his lineup, but what he is most proud of is his team's ability to find a variety of ways to score.

&#8220It's a testament to these kids. It's really easy to come out in summer ball and waste some at bats. But they grind in there,” Pritchard said. &#8220They take pride in understanding situations - whether they hit the grand slam or move the guy over with the ground ball.”

The versatility of the lineup allows Pritchard to have flexibility in the gameplan. This season the first-place Miners have won games playing small ball, and others with the long ball.

&#8220We like those big hits, but the little things keep us right there too,” Pritchard said.

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