Miners take early lead in ABL playoff series

PALMER — Mat-Su Miners head coach Ben Taylor reached into his bag of tricks Wednesday night, and the call produced the game-winning run on the opening night of the Alaska Baseball League playoffs.

Mat-Su’s Spencer Henson stole home during the bottom of the sixth to help the Miners scored a 5-4 win over Chugiak in the first game of a best-of-3 series at Hermon Brothers Field in Palmer. It was all part of a double steal. With runners at first and third and the game tied at 4, Mat-Su’s Josh Hatcher was caught in a rundown between first and second. As the Chugiak defense focused on Hatcher, Henson sprinted toward home.

“We might be last in the league in stolen bass, but our percentage of success is pretty high,” Taylor said after the win. “We pick our spots, and the guys did a hell of a job running the play.”

As soon as the defense tried to catch Hatcher, Henson, a 6-foot-2 and 230-pound infielder and designated hitter, made his way toward home, dove head first and slid across home plate well ahead of the throw.

“That was awesome. That boy can move,” Miners outfielder Kona Quiggle said.

As Henson slid across the plate, Hatcher was safe at second.

“He’s a real athletic kid,” Taylor said of Henson. “And when that’s run right, things tend to work out.”

Hatcher, a Mississippi State product who played in the 2018 NCAA Division I College World Series, also finished with a single and triple in the win.

“He’s fantastic. He’s only been with us for about a month, but he makes a huge impact for us,” Taylor said.

Mat-Su and Chugiak combined for four home runs in the game. Both teams also had extra-base hits off the wall, and Mat-Su had at least three flyouts that were caught at the wall.

“The ball was jumping here,” Taylor said. “I haven’t seen the ball jump like this on a weathery day in a long time.”

Quiggle blasted a two-run shot in the third that tied the game at 2.

“It was 3-1, I was head in the count,” Quiggle said. “I was looking for my pitch and he threw it.”

Nick Brooks knocked a solo shot off the scoreboard in right field to tie the game at 3 in the fifth.

Jordan Wharton and Nick Kreutzer hit home runs for Chugiak.

Josh Haley allowed just a hit over 2 1/3 innings of relief and earned the win on the mound. Bryce Tassin, who was recently named the ABL’s Top Prospect earned the save.

The best-of-3 series continues Thursday at 6 p.m. at Hermon Brothers.

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