Miners wild stretch continues; 3 straight games end in final at-bat

PALMER — Welcome to Alaska Jonny Locher.

Locher, a Stanford product, arrived in the Valley on Friday. Saturday, Locher hit a walk-off grand slam to lead the Mat-Su Miners to a 10-7 come-from-behind victory over the Anchorage Glacier Pilots at Hermon Brothers Field.

Locher finished 3 for 5 in his Mat-Su debut. But no at-bat was more important than his final plate appearance of the game. With three balls, two strikes and the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth (and the Miners trailing 7-6) , Locher lifted a shot over the Hermon Brothers wall to give Mat-Su its first league win of the season.

Locher’s game-winning bomb also came in the middle of a wild stretch for the Miners, with three straight games decided with the game’s final at-bat.

Friday, the Glacier Pilots used a walk-off hit to beat Mat-Su 5-4. Sunday, the Anchorage Bucs scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth to edge Mat-Su 5-4 in walk-off fashion in Anchorage.

“It’s the ABL. I expect nothing less from our first league game of the summer,” Mat-Su head coach Ben Taylor said after the first game against the Pilots, a team Mat-Su will face nine times this season. “The league is known for its parity and how hard guys play.”

Saturday, the Pilots plated four in the second and took a 7-2 lead into the eighth inning.

The Miners scored a pair of runs in the eighth to cut Anchorage’s lead to 7-4, and grabbed the win with the six-run ninth. Nick Senzel reached on an error to lead off the inning and Hunter Simmons followed with a walk. Senzel scored on a Brandon Smith groundout to cut Anchorage’s lead to 7-5.

Cameron Newell singled to load the bases for the Miners. Dayne Wunderlich drew a walk to score Simmons. That made the score 7-6.

After the Wunderlich single, Nick Blaser singled to load the bases once again. That set up Locher’s opportunity for the walk-off slam.

Jon Ferrendelli pitched a scoreless ninth and earned the win on the mound. But the key performance on the mound came courtesy of Jonathon Boyer, a former Colony High standout. Boyer pitched three innings, allowing four hits and only one run.

Locher led the Miners with the three hits, three runs and four RBI. Newell, also in his Mat-Su debut, added two hits and two runs.

Sunday, Locher struck again, helping Mat-Su take a late 4-2 lead before a Bucs rally. Locher hit a solo home run in the top of the ninth inning, the first of three Miners runs in the inning. Mat-Su entered the final inning trailing 2-1. Locher’s home run tied the game at 2. With two outs in the ninth, the Miners collected four straight singles. Matt Decker, Nick Blaser, Cameron Frost and Paul Panaccione each had a hit during the stretch. Decker scored on the Frost single. Panaccione drove in Blaser.

But trailing 4-2 heading into the bottom of the ninth, the Bucs managed to rally and score three times. Garrett Copeland scored the game-winning run when Tyler Ware reached on a Mat-Su error.

Locher led the Miners, finishing 4 for 4 at the plate. Deck and Blaser were each 2 for 4.

Locher was a combined 7 for 9 with two home runs and five RBIs in his first two games with the Miners.

Mat-Su played Chugiak Monday night. Results were unavailable prior to press time.