Oilers ace stifles Miners

PALMER -- Earlier this week the Mat-Su Miners were like a group of supermen at the plate, knocking everything the opposing pitcher had into the gaps of the outfield or over the wall. But on Wednesday, Peninsula Oilers ace Steve Morlock had the answer for the Miner supermen -- an 106-seem ball of kryptonite.

Morlock scattered five hits over seven innings, and allowed just one run as the Oilers cruised to a 6-1 win over the Miners at Hermon Brothers Field.

Morlock, a University of California-Santa Barbara sophomore, struck out six hitters and allowed multiple base runners in just one inning. The right hander said location of his fastball was the key to his outing.

"They were swinging early in the count, getting themselves out," Morlock said. "They're really aggressive hitters."

Morlock entered the contest with a 2.12 ERA -- best of the Oiler starters. He improved to 5-1 with the win and now has 46 punchouts and just seven walks in 41 innings.

Chris Mason scored the lone run for a Miner squad that had pushed 26 runners across the plate in the last two games. After Morlock drilled Mason with a fastball -- which topped out at 91 mph Wednesday -- Mat-Su second baseman Josh Satin tripled to right field to score Mason.

"We had 21 hits the night before last, 18 hits last night. We might of hit one ball hard tonight," Mat-Su manager Mike Buchmiller said.

Designated hitter Billy Munich was the only Miner with multiple hits, registering a pair of singles.

Peninsula took a 3-0 lead in the top of the second inning. Chris Minaker and Rocky Laguna singled off Mat-Su starter Justin Kashner and Kashner plunked Andy Dahl to load the bases.

With the bases jammed, Kashner drilled Robert Perry between the shoulder blades with a pitch and the Oilers took a 1-0 lead. Nick Kliebert followed with a two-run single to give Peninsula the three-run advantage.

The Oilers hit Mat-Su reliever John Cahil for a pair of runs in the fifth. Nathan Faulkner notched a run-scoring single and later scored on a wild pitch.

The Oilers entered the game in second place in the Alaska Baseball League standings, just a half game ahead of the Miners. With the win, Peninsula improved to 14-8 in league play and, as of Thursday morning, are just a half game behind the first-place Alaska Goldpanners.

With just two weeks left in the regular season, both teams view the Mat-Su-Peninsula three-game series as pivotal to the hopes of earning one of the league's two berths to the National Baseball Congress World Series in Wichita, Kan.

"This is the most important series of the year, so far, for us," Morlock said. "We when this series, we're in pretty good shape."

"At this point in the season, every game is very pivotal, especially when you are playing against teams ahead of you in the standings," Buchmiller said. "You can't lose ground."

Mat-Su 10,

Anchorage Bucs 4

Chris Errecart homered for the second straight night, drove in three runs and scored three runs to lead the Miners to a 10-4 win over the Bucs at Mulchahy Stadium in Anchorage on Tuesday.

Errecart, Zeke Parraz and Chris Mason each had three hits for the Miners. Chris Mason allowed just one earned run on the mound en route to earning his fourth win of the season. The Miners collected 18 hits in the game.

Mat-Su improved to 4-1 against its Anchorage foe.

Mat-Su 16, Anchorage Glacier Pilots 7

Satin notched four hits in five plate appearances and drove in five runs to lead the Miners to a 16-7 win over the Glacier Pilots at Mulchahy Stadium on Monday.

Satin blasted a pair of home runs in the win. Hits by Parraz and Errecart also left the yard. Mat-Su collected 21 hits in the contest.

Ryan Edell earned the win in relief for the Miners.