OPEN SEASON

PALMER — It didn’t take long for Nick DiBiasse to introduce himself to

local baseball fans.

In his first plate appearance as a Mat-Su Miner, DiBiasse sparked the Miners with a stand-up, run-scoring triple in the first inning of Mat-Su’s 3-1 win over the Anchorage Glacier Pilots in a seven-inning exhibition game at Hermon Brothers Field on Monday.

“It’s always nice to get a hit in your first at bat in any game, not to mention start the season with one,” DiBiasse said.

With one out in the bottom of the second, the Central Missouri product sent a rope into right field, and Mat-Su infielder Quinn Pippen hustled around from first base for the score.

“It was a fastball away. I stayed on it and went the other way,” DiBiasse said. “It snuck past the right fielder.”

Pippen knocked a hit through the middle infield to get on. After Pippen scored, DiBiasse crossed home plate to give the Miners the 2-0 advantage when Wesley Thigpen reached on an error.

“We came out and played pretty hard early,” Mat-Su assistant coach Craig Ringe said. “Out of the gate, approach-wise we were outstanding.”

Mat-Su collected five hits in the first two innings and took a 3-1 lead in the second when Pippen followed Brett Schwartz’ infield single with a run-scoring double to right.

Ringe’s concern was five of Mat-Su’s six hits came in those first two innings.

“Throughout the game, we’ve got to add on,” Ringe said. “We can’t sit on our three-spot and think we’re getting it done.”

Outfielder Ben Koenigsfeld doubled in the bottom of the sixth for the Miners.

Lefty Blake Dieterich, who played youth baseball in the Anchorage area, pitched 4 2/3 innings to grab the win. The University of Georgia freshman allowed three hits and struck out four.

“He did a great job for us,” Ringe said. “He hasn’t thrown in a long time, so we got him back out there.”

Dieterich surrendered the lone Anchorage run of the game when catcher Pat Perry singled and scored in the second inning. The southpaw also got out of a jam later in that inning. Dieterich walked Tyler Belk to load the bases. With the bases loaded and no outs, Dieterich got Anchorage’s Clay Cederquist to ground into a double play. Perry scored on the play, but Dieterich fanned the next batter, designated hitter Jon Dyson, to end the inning.

Ringe did have to pull Dieterich with two outs in the top of the fifth after John Rolen reached on a Mat-Su error. But reliever Joe Bircher struck out Anchorage’s Adam Landecker to end the inning.

Bircher and Gage Smith combined to retire the last seven Anchorage hitters of the game.

“Dieterich pitched well for us, gave us a great chance, and the bullpen was outstanding,” Ringe said.

Both Alaska Baseball League clubs were shorthanded as they wait for players on the roster to continue to arrive in Alaska. The Miners had just about a dozen regulars in uniform. To add a little depth to the lineup this week, Mat-Su added three locals to the team temporarily.

Kody Ziter, a former Colony standout who capped his high school career at the state tournament last week, started in left field for the Miners. Ziter reached base twice in three plate appearances. He walked and was hit by a pitch.

Palmer High School head coach David Combs and former PHS standout Keith Christopher were also in uniform. Combs is expected to pitch when the Miners travel to Anchorage to face the Glacier Pilots tonight at 7 p.m. at Mulcahy Stadium.

Anchorage had a coach and its general manager in the lineup. Perry, an assistant coach, started at catcher and had two hits. Dyson, the general manager, served as the team’s designated hitter.

The contest was the first of three seven-inning exhibition games between the two teams. The Miners and Pilots meet tonight in Anchorage and again Wednesday at Hermon Brothers Field. Regardless of whether the game counts in the official standings, DiBiasse said it was nice to start the season with a win.

“Even with it being an exhibition, you always want to come out on top,” DiBiasse said. “We’re just getting to know everybody, just learning about everybody, how everybody else plays. It’s really fun.”

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.