Oilers edge Miners

PALMER — Sometimes a simple bounce can help decide the outcome.

Peninsula Oilers outfielder Thomas Ruddy scored on a passed ball in the top of the fourth inning to provide the eventual game-winning run during a 2-1 win over the Miners Friday night at Hermon Brothers Field in Palmer.

The run came after a swing that could have ended the inning. With two outs and two on, Mat-Su starter John Doxakis got Peninsula’s Caleb Hicks to swing at the third strike, but the ball took a bounce and made its way to the backstop behind home plate. With two strikes and two outs, Ruddy was running on the play. Ruddy was able to round third and beat the throw back to home.

“That’s baseball,” Mat-Su head coach Ben Taylor said after the loss. “Sometimes the ball hits the plate and stays in front, sometimes it hits the plate and goes to the screen and doesn’t go our way.”

Doxakis and reliever Austin Dennis combined to allow only one earned run in the game, but three Peninsula pitchers scattered four hits to help the Oilers improve to 9-14 in Alaska Baseball League play. The Miners dropped to 18-9, but as of Friday, still had a one-game lead at the top of the standings.

Dennis, a two-way player for the Miners who works in the infield and on the mound, allowed only three hits and struck out four during four innings of work.

“The guy is a real fierce competitor,” Taylor said. “That dude really wants to win. He’s a real addition and asset to this club. He does a good job at the plate, plays all over the diamond for us and he’s a tough little bulldog on the mound for us.”

Doxakis struck out seven and walked only one. He allowed five hits and one earned run.

“He was behind and had to throw some extra pitches because of that, but it’s only his second start. Going forward we feel pretty good about things,” Taylor said.

Nathan Webb gave Peninsula the early lead in the top of the second, driving a solo shot over the left field fence. Ruddy added to that advantage in the fourth.

The Miners were able to cut the lead in half in the sixth. Quinn Cotton reached on an error and scored on a Blake Benefield single to bring the Miners within a run. Benefield led Mat-Su with two of its four hits.

Mat-Su’s game against the Oilers slated for Saturday night was postponed due to heavy rained, and has been rescheduled as part of a doubleheader July 23 at 4 p.m. The Miners are back at the field Sunday to host a doubleheader against the Anchorage Glacier Pilots in Palmer. The first game is scheduled to start at 4 p.m.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.