Panners dish up Miners their first ABL loss of the season

PALMER — During their first four Alaska Baseball League games, the Mat-Su Miners committed only three total errors. That solid defense was one reason why the Miners started the ABL season 4-0.

But things didn’t go quite a smooth in the field on Wednesday. Mat-Su committed six errors during a 7-5 loss to the Alaska Goldpanners at Hermon Brothers Field in Palmer.

“We made some mistakes and they pounced on it,” Mat-Su assistant coach Craig Ringe said after the loss.

The Fairbanks-based Panners scored five runs, three unearned, over the final three innings to improve to 3-3, and hand Mat-Su (4-1) its first league loss of the season.

Alaska posted three runs in the seventh to tie the score at 5. DJ Crumlich pushed the go-ahead run across the plate with a run-scoring single in the eighth and later scored on a Mat-Su error to pad the Panners’ lead.

“They did a good job of taking advantage of our mistakes,” Ringe said. “We’ve got to better defensively.”

The teams combined for 32 hits in the game. Mat-Su starter Kirk Jewasko allowed five hits and two earned runs over six innings, but the Panners nailed a trio of Mat-Su relievers for seven hits over the final three innings.

“They’re a good club,” Ringe said. “They kept fighting for nine innings.” Mat-Su’s final pitcher of the night, James Allen, was tagged with the loss after allowing Crumlich’s RBI single.

Alaska’s Ryan Cabral was stellar in relief, earning the win after working a scoreless 5 2/3 innings.

Designated hitter David Lyon gave the Miners the early 2-0 lead when he smacked a two-run home run over the right field fence during the second inning. It was the Kent State product’s second shot in as many days. Lyon also homered in his Mat-Su debut Tuesday during a 6-2 win over the Anchorage Glacier Pilots.

After the Panners tied the score with a pair of runs in the top of the third, Mat-Su took back the lead in the bottom of the inning.

Matt Wessinger led off the inning with a single and quickly scored on an Andy Mee double. Pablo Bermudez walked and scored on a wild pitch. Late in the inning, Lyon drove in his third run of the contest with a sacrifice fly.

Mee collected three of Mat-Su’s 11 total hits to lead the Miners. Lyon had two hits and Matt Ozanne recorded a pair of doubles. Bermudez scored a pair of runs for the Miners.

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