Oilers edge Miners in Kenai

After a chaotic sudden death loss the previous night, the Mat-Su Miners came into the second of a 5-game series with an unquenchable desire to win.

But the host Peninsula Oilers held on, and notched a 4-3 win over the Miners Tuesday night in Kenai.

Early on, the game picked up right where the previous game left off, with the pitchers imposing their will on the hapless offenses. Max Sasaski for the Oilers and Ben Detaeye for the Miners each had solid nights starting off. Each pitcher would end the game with two strikeouts, but could not limit the teams forever.

In the third inning, the Miners would rev up the engine and start things off with a Nick Bisaccia Single. Then Drake Kerr and Ryker Schow would each reach first base, creating the perfect opportunity for an opening salvo. The Oilers defense cost them the first 2 games back in Palmer and early on in this game it would cost them again as Ryker Schow would score an unearned run on an error by Cole Dawson to give them a 1-0 lead.

In the bottom of the third, the Oilers would find something in the well when Andres Mitat would reach first base on an error by Ben Detaeye. Then, Kyle McDaniel would manage an RBI single that would score the unearned run to give the Oilers a tie in the 3rd. Even with the tie secured, Peninsula would not let up that easily.

Things began to deteriorate for Ben Detaeye in the fourth inning when he gave up back-to-back singles to Ty Thomas and Cole Wilson. That would lead to Andres Mitat reaching first on a error on Ryan Richard allowing Ty Thomas and Cole Wilson to both come home and give Peninsula an emphatic 3-1 lead. Mat-Su committed two costly errors in this inning to allow these runs in the first place.

Both teams would bring in new pitchers as Jack Hostetler and Cameron Teper would come in for the road and home teams. In the seventh inning though, after knocking on the door for some time, the Miners finally knocked it down with a Nick Bisaccia single which would set up a Drake Kerr sacrifice bunt to drive in Bisaccia to home and bring the game to 3-2.

Then the debuting Blake Balsz out of UCLA, making his first start with the Miners, would deliver a signature left field bloop single to tie the game at three runs apiece. Much like the first game, this game would come down to who delivered in crunch time.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, the Oilers answered the call. Jack Hostetler had been incredibly solid in three innings of action, but he would lose his iron grip on the game when he would walk Kyle McDaniel, give up a Colin Robson Single, and then would allow McDaniel to score to give the Oilers a dramatic 4-3 lead. Peninsula was now just three outs away from back to back victories.

The top of the ninth saw Mat-Su give everything they had to bring the game to extra innings. Nick Bisaccia would single and then advanced to second base on a passed ball. Now he just needed one big shot to tie the game at four runs.

The Miners are now 4-3 overall in ABL play and have lost back-to-back games to the Oilers.