Miners win series with victory

PALMER — It’s been a frustrating few weeks for the Mat-Su Miners. But finally, everything came together Tuesday night at Hermon Brothers Field.

With timely hitting, aggressive base running and stellar pitching, the Miners posted a 4-1 win over the Alaska Goldpanners.

Starter Jake Long pitched a great six innings and outfielder Clint Freeman finished 3 for 3 at the plate to help the Miners grab the win and snap a three-game losing skid.

“Things haven’t been going our way, but the baseball gods might be changing their mind,” Mat-Su first baseman Branden Berry said of the Miners, who are 3-7 in their last 10. “If we can keep it going, it would be nice.”

And the Miners did keep it going through a big four-game set against the Goldpanners. Mat-Su used a 9-6 win over the Fairbanks-based team Thursday night to win the series, taking 3 of 4 games against the Panners. With the wins, the Miners improved to 8-14 in Alaska Baseball League play, and after a rough first three weeks of the season, the Miners are playing .500 ball in their last 10 games.

In the first game of the series Tuesday, Mat-Su continued to hit the ball, as the Miners have throughout the season. But the Miners also had strong pitching. Long allowed only three hits and walked just one hitter through six. He fanned seven and retired the side during the fourth, fifth and sixth. Andrew McGee had an impressive outing against the Peninsula Oilers Sunday with three good innings. The Miners also executed, laying down bunts, advancing runners and stealing bases.

“We finally did the little things right,” Head coach Chris Gordon said. “We finally did the little things right. We finally got some bunts down, got some two-out RBIs. We put together some great at-bats. Obviously, our starting pitching was great.”

Thursday, the Miners used a patient approach at the plate to plate the nine runs. The Miners finished with 10 walks in addition to the nine hits. Tino Lipson, who was 2 for 3 at the plate, scored a team-high three runs. Clint Freeman scored twice for the Miners. Eight different Miners had at least one hit, and four different Mat-Su players scored a run.

The Miners also split a holiday doubleheader with the Panners on Wednesday. Alaska opened with a 5-4 win over the Miners in the doubleheader, but Mat-Su answered with a 7-5 victory in the following game.

The Miners, who built an early 5-1 lead in the game, were led by two hits by five different players.

All of Mat-Su’s 14 hits were singles. Bill Cullen led the Miners with two RBI.

Ross Mitchell earned the win on the mound.

Freeman was 3 for 3 for the Miners in the loss. Erik Harbutz hit a two-run home run and drove in three runs in the game.

The Miners now have a rare pair of off days, but return to the field to face the Anchorage Glacier Pilots Sunday in Anchorage. The Miners next home game is Monday at 6 p.m. against the Chugiak Chinooks.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com, follow him at twitter.com/matsu_sports and find him by searching Valley Sports Huddle on Facebook.