Miners top Omaha in a wild one

June 21, 2005

JEREMIAH BARTZ/Frontiersman sports editor

PALMER - The Mat-Su Miners scored a pair of runs on a wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning, and earned a 6-5 come-from-behind win over the Omaha Zone on Sunday.

With the bases loaded and Mat-Su catcher Matt McBride at the plate, a wild pitch squirted past the Omaha backstop, and John Hester and Brett Bigler raced to scores.

"John started running, and then Bigler never stopped," Mat-Su manager Jimmy Smith said.

Hester started the inning with a pinch-hit single to start the inning. Bigler followed with a drive to deep center field.

"I don't know if it was a hit or an error," Smith said. "It came off the centerfielder's glove. It was a pretty un-routine ball, and ended up being two bases."

Michael Taylor drew a walk to load the bases for Mat-Su, and set up the walk-off wild pitch.

Alex Trafton pitched four innings of long relief, and earned the win on the mound for Mat-Su.

"It's the first win, and the first very positive outing for Alex," Smith said. "His stuff was very good, and got better with every inning."

Omaha took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning, and held a lead until the final pitch.

"Our intensity wasn't there early," Smith said. "We did just enough to keep our head above water."

Mat-Su finished the nonleague portion of its schedule with a 6-2 mark, and opened Alaska Baseball League play last night. Results of the Miners' contest against the Anchorage Bucs at Mulchahy Stadium were not available prior to press time.

Smith said he has a confident feeling about his team as the Miners leap into the ABL schedule. The Mat-Su pitching staff is not as good as last season, Smith said, but the defense is improved. The Miners have a fielding percentage of .975, the Major League average, Smith said.

On offense, the Miners have a team batting average of .280. Smith also has the luxury of mixing six lefthanded hitters into the lineup.

The one concern, Smith said, is the Mat-Su bullpen.

"The inability to throw strikes concerns me a little bit," Smith said. "Once we get more in tune with the league, something will work out. A few of these guys haven't thrown in two or three weeks. Their first inning, they're going to be a little rusty."

The Mat-Su bullpen should improve with the return of Josh McLaughlin. The College of Charleston sophomore recorded two saves and struck out five consecutive hitters, but has been sidelined with a chest injury. Smith expected McLaughlin to be pitching by the end of the week.

"He's our stopper," Smith said.

Wheter the Miners use him in the ninth inning or in a jam earlier in the game, Smith said, McLaughlin is expected to be the Mat-Su ace of the bullpen.

The Mat-Su roster is now set. Illinois infielder Ryan Hastings was added late to fill the void left by the loss of Oregon State infielder Darwin Barney. The Beavers recently completed a run in the NCAA College World Series, but Barney will not be competing for the Miners this summer due to an arm injury. Hastings saw limited action for the Illini during his sophomore campaign, but hit .315 in 52 games as a freshman.

Mat-Su welcomed a Hall of Famer to Hermon Brothers Field on Sunday. Bobby Doerr, a 14-year veteran of the Boston Red Sox, saw the Miners come-from-behind win. The nine-time all-star led the American League with a .528 slugging percentage in 1944, 11 triples in 1950 and finished third in the AL MVP voting in 1946.

Doerr helped the Red Sox advance to the 1946 World Series. He hit .409 in the six-game series, but the Red Sox fell to St. Louis.