Miners start 2016 season Wednesday in Kenai

PALMER — The fourth year of the Ben Taylor era is going to begin a bit differently for the Mat-Su Miners.

Rather than easing into the season with a couple of nonconference contests, Mat-Su blasts right into league play.

And the Miners will do it on the road.

The Miners open the 2016 Alaska Baseball League season with a pair of games against the Peninsula Oilers Wednesday and Thursday at Coral Seymour Park in Kenai.

Taylor, Mat-Su’s head coach who led the Miners to a combined 83 wins during his first three summers in the Valley, said he’s excited about hitting the road with the 2016 edition of the Miners.

“It’s going to be a lot of fun to get these guys on the road earlier (in the season),” Taylor said Monday afternoon.

The 2016 schedule presents a polar opposite of the 2015 slate. Last year, Mat-Su didn’t make the trek south to Kenai until the final weekend of the regular season. The Miners didn’t leave Southcentral Alaska until a three-day stay in Fairbanks in late July.

But to Taylor, the trip presents the ideal chance to get a head start on building team chemistry.

“It’s good team bonding right out of the gate,” Taylor said.

Taylor’s not concerned with the lack of nonconference games either.

“No preseason this year, that’s fine,” Taylor said. “There’s going to be the get-to-know-you phase whether there’s two nonconference games or two conference games.”

Overall, Taylor said he’s ready to get the players on the field.

“I’m extremely excited to get this season going for the fans out here in the Valley, and get my guys out on the field to start a run at the 2016 ABL championship,” Taylor said.

The Miners have been mainstays in the ABL title hunt during Taylor’s time with the team, finishing as the league runner-up in each of the last three seasons.

“Winning an ABL championship is definitely our No. 1 goal. (We want to) bring a championship to the Valley,” Taylor said. “We’ve been close for three years. I’m extremely proud of what we’ve done: winning more games than any other team, three (most valuable players), numerous all-stars. The recipe for success is there. We’re looking for this year to get over the hump.”

Taylor will have a roster stocked full of standouts. The list includes All-Americans and Division I all-conference talent. For a complete team preview of the 2016 edition of the Miners, see the Sunday, June 12, edition of the Frontiersman.

Following its stay in Kenai, Mat-Su continues its road trip with a stop in Anchorage to play the Bucs Saturday at 7 p.m. at Mulcahy Stadium. The Miners host their home-opener Sunday at 4 p.m. against the Chugiak-Eagle River Chinooks.

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