Palmer grad starting opener

PALMER — After a disappointing spring at Odessa Community College, all Mike Carlson wants is the opportunity to pitch.

And that’s a chance he’s going to get.

Carlson, a former Palmer High School standout, is the Mat-Su Miners’ opening-day starter.

“I’m pretty stoked,” said Carlson, who will fire the first pitch of the season when the Miners host the Bears of California Saturday at Hermon Brothers Field. “This will give me the chance to prove myself. (It’s) what I really wanted.”

Carlson, in his second summer with the Miners, is one of a handful of local products to don the Mat-Su green and gold in recent seasons. But while many of those Valley players were not heavily used, Mat-Su head coach Conor Bird is asking Carlson to contribute, and not serve as simply an ornament on the bench.

“Mike’s not just going to go be the Alaska guy on the roster,” Bird said earlier this week. “He’ll be a guy who’ll contribute, just like the other guys we have.”

Carlson is not only relishing the chance to show his stuff — a fastball that touches 90 mph, a curve ball and a splitter — but is also excited about the chance to work with Bird and pitching coach Ryan Heil for another summer.

Bird served as Mat-Su’s pitching coach last year before he was promoted to head coach for the 2008 season, and Heil — the pitching coach this summer — was the Miners’ fourth assistant in 2007. Carlson said he has a great relationship with both coaches, Bird in particular.

“I get along with him better than any coach I had before, other than high school,” Carlson said. “It’s fun to play for them. You work harder for coaches you want to play for.”

A poor relationship with coaches is one reason Carlson’s baseball career took a detour earlier this year. Odessa CC used the 6-foot-3, 210-pound right-hander sparingly, prompting Carlson to look for spot in another program. Thanks in part to a recommendation from Mat-Su general manager Pete Christopher, Carlson found a home at Scottsdale Community College.

Christopher describes Carlson as a pitcher with, “big upside,” and said the Scottsdale CC coaches were sold when they learned Carlson would pitch this summer in the Alaska Baseball League.

“That’s all they needed to hear,” Christopher said. “Playing up here (in the ABL) sealed it for him.”

The chance to pitch at Scottsdale CC could prove to be pivotal point in the career of a player with his eyes set on the Division I level. The Fighting Artichokes are a perennial contender who finished third in the National Junior College World Series last year.

“They’re excited for me to come,” Carlson said. “They said I can come in there and help them right away.”

In the meantime, the 2006 graduate of Palmer High said he hopes to spend the summer fine-tuning his game.

“I really want to work on my mechanics, the mental aspects,” Carlson said. “Get ready for the next level so I can sign with a Division I team next year.”

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