Miners southpaw stellar in Mat-Su victory

PALMER — On nights like Wednesday, it’s not that hard to figure out why the Mat-Su Miners will be competing for an Alaska Baseball League Championship.

Mat-Su, the top hitting and pitching team in the ABL, finished with 11 hits at the plate, and starting pitcher Zach Warren took a no-hitter into the sixth during Mat-Su’s 5-3 win over the Anchorage Glacier Pilots at Hermon Brothers Field in Palmer.

Mat-Su, which clinched a spot in the upcoming ABL Top of the World Series earlier this month, improved to 29-9 in league play. The Miners also hosted the Pilots Thursday night, but results were unavailable prior to press time. See frontiersman.com/sports for more.

Warren, a University of Tennessee product making his seventh start of the summer, didn’t allow a hit until the sixth inning.

“Zach was fantastic,” Miners head coach Ben Taylor said. “He had all three pitches going for strikes. He pounded the zone all night, worked with a great tempo. It was fun to watch.”

Warren struck out 10 and walked only two. He allowed only one hit and two earned runs, in six official innings of work.

Warren improved to 5-1 with the Miners. He has a 1.85 earned run average, and ABL-leading 52 strikeouts in 43.2 innings.

“We hoped Zach would do what he’s done for us,” Taylor said. “He throws a lot of strikes, and has a lot of confidence in all three of his pitches. He’s a fantastic member of this team.”

Warren is also a big reason the Miners lead the league with a 1.69 ERA.

Mat-Su, the league’s top hitting squad with a .267 average, had four different players with two hits Wednesday. Alex Caruso, Tyler Wolfe, Matt Diorio and Jake Schleppenbach finished with two hits each. Caruso scored a pair of runs.

Caruso scored on a wild pitch to give the Miners a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third. Later in the inning, Wolfe scored on a Diorio single to push Mat-Su’s lead to 2-0.

In the fourth, Caruso and Wolfe added to the advantage with run-scoring singles.

Mat-Su, the ABL National League champion, now has an opponent in the Top of the World Series. The Anchorage Bucs clinched the ABL American League earlier this week. The Miners have home field advantage in the best-of-3 series that starts Monday at Hermon Brothers Field. Game 1 is set for Monday at 6 p.m. Game 2 is scheduled for Tuesday at 3 p.m. A third game, if necessary, would start a half-hour after the conclusion of the second game.

All Mat-Su Miners and ABL season passes will be honored for the series.