NO GUTS, NO GLORY

PALMER — Sometimes it takes more guts to get the glory.

With Mat-Su starter David Gibson’s gritty effort on the mound and Tim Zier’s great timing at the plate, the Miners were able to squeeze out a 4-2 win over the Athletes in Action Fire in a rain-shortened game at Hermon Brothers Field on Wednesday.

Gibson shrugged off struggles to pitch five solid innings and help the Miners erase an early deficit and record their second straight win over the Fire.

“Gibby will be the first to admit he didn’t have his best stuff, but he still competed his butt off and got some quality innings after that first one to keep our team in the game and give us the chance to come back like he did,” Mat-Su Miner head coach Brian Yocke said while standing next to the field, trapped in a downpour merely minutes after the game was officially called final after six innings.

AIA tagged Gibson for three hits and two runs in the first. The Bluefield College product also hit a batter and walked another. But after a rough first inning, Gibson held the Fire scoreless during the next four.

“That guy competes his butt off,” Yocke said of Gibson. “If he pitches like that — that competitively — when he has better stuff, I’ll be excited to see that.”

Gibson flirted with danger in the fourth, but notched a key strikeout to retire the Fire. Gibson allowed a single, hit a batter and walked a man to load the bases, but fanned back-to-back AIA hitters to end the top of the fourth.

Zier’s work at the plate helped Gibson earn the win on the mound.

In the fifth, Zier sparked the Miners’ three-run inning with a pair of RBI.

With the bases loaded and one out, Zier stepped up to the plate and sent a two-strike pitch into the opposite field. The San Diego State prospect found a hole in the right side of the infield and Nick Rosso easily scored from third to put the Miners on the board. Catcher Casey Coyle also hustled around from second to tie the score at 2.

“One of the focuses this summer is to battle with two strikes and put the ball in play,” Yocke said. “Tim did just that.”

In the sixth inning, Kevin Lum drew a bases-loaded walk to drive in another run and give the Miners the 4-2 lead.

Lum also had a key defensive play in top of the sixth. With reliever Jacob Brewer on the mound, Lum pulled together a double play virtually by himself.

With one out and the Fire threatening, Lum took a grounder at short, stepped on the bag at second and fired the throw to first to end the inning.

“(Kevin) in general in these first couple of games, even in the exhibition games, he does a lot of things right,” Yocke said. “He puts a lot of balls in play with two strikes. He goes to the opposite field. He can hit and run. He can bunt. He can play defense. He can do it all.”

Lum and Rosso each finished with a pair of hits in the win. Zier led the squad with the two RBI.

Miners 5, Fire 0

PALMER — Steven Bruce and Ryan Kemp combined for a six-hit shutout during a 5-0 win over the Athletes in Action Fire at Hermon Brothers Field on Tuesday.

Bruce allowed four hits over 6 1/3 innings to earn the win in the Alaska Baseball League opener for the Miners.

“Bruce looked phenomenal,” Yocke said of the Oklahoma product. “He was able to throw all his pitches for a strike whenever he wanted to.”

Bruce allowed only four hits, while fanning three and walking two.

Kemp hit the mound late in the sixth and pitched 2 2/3 to earn the long save. Kemp allowed two hits and struck out one.

“Not only did he save the game for us, but he saved the bullpen,” Yocke said.

The game marked the first of five straight for the Miners.

Adam Martin used a run-scoring single in the first to give the Miners the early lead. Stephen Branca, who led the Miners with three hits in the win, singled earlier in the inning and scored on the Martin hit.

Zier followed with a sacrifice RBI in the second, and Lum scored to give the Miners the 2-0 lead. Mat-Su pushed it to 3-0 when Dominick Francia walked and scored in the third.

Mat-Su also hosted AIA on Thursday, but the game was not final before press time. See frontiersman.com/sports for more.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/matsu_sports.