PAYING TRIBUTE: Miners pitcher dedicates victory following the death of his longtime coach

PALMER — Late in the top of the fourth with two on and two out, Mat-Su starting pitcher Spencer Henson fired a called third strike past Ryan Smith of the Peninsula Oilers.

As Hanson made his way back to the dugout, the Miners right-hander let out a yell.

It was a big strikeout, stranding two Oilers base runners during a scoreless game. It was a big game. The Miners, the top team in the Alaska Baseball League, had lost two straight.

But Monday’s start meant more to Henson. Much more. Henson was not only battling for the Miners, but also playing for his hometown of Pryor, Oklahoma, and the memory of Matt Davis, Henson’s longtime youth and high school baseball coach.

Davis died last week. Now, Henson is paying tribute to his mentor. Henson, an Oral Roberts University freshman, dedicated his final starts of the season and the playoffs to Davis. The tribute began with Henson firing seven shutout innings, and leading the Miners to a key 3-0 win over the Oilers at Hermon Brothers Field in Palmer.

“This is for him,” Henson said of Davis after the win. “He meant the world to me.”

Henson’s bond with Davis began when Henson was only 10 years old, and Davis continued to coach Henson throughout his career through his senior season with the Pryor Tigers in 2016.

“He taught me everything you need to know about how to pitch,” Henson said. “How to hold myself together out there. I was a pretty emotional kid when things weren’t going my way. He knew how to keep me on the right path.”

Henson remains very close to the Davis family. Davis’ stepson, Anthony Martinez, graduated with Henson and is his best friend, Henson said.

“He’s been with us since Day 1,” Henson said of Davis. “He’s been the guy.”

Henson scattered eight hits over seven scoreless innings Monday. He fanned two, walked two and threw 63 of his 99 pitches for strikes.

“This is pretty special,” Mat-Su head coach Ben Taylor said of Henson and his night on the mound. “This was as important and as gutsy of a performance I’ve had a kid throw for us in my five years as manager of the Mat-Su Miners.”

Henson, a standout through the summer for the Miners, lowered his earned run average to 0.61.

Henson was quick to give credit to his teammates.

“I owe it to the guys on the field, owe it to the guys at the plate, making big plays when they needed to,” Henson said.

The Mat-Su defense came up big, with key outs to help Henson. Among the biggest plays came early, in the top of the second. Ryan Smith doubled for the Oilers with two outs. Jack Bauer followed with a single. Smith tried to score from second, but Mat-Su outfielder Quin Cotton made the throw and gunned Smith down at the plate.

“That had to happen,” Taylor said of the play. “We did what we had to do.”

Miners third baseman Oscar Marchena and left fielder Elijah MacNamee also made catches in foul territory to end innings. Marchena made a catch at the fence along the third-base line in the third. Later in the game, MacNamee slid through the Oilers bullpen to make a catch.

Miners catcher Ryan Haug also gunned down a runner at second.

“We had to do it,” Taylor said of the improved play on defense. “We hadn’t played very good defense as a unit the last couple of nights.”

Mike Antico led Mat-Su at the plate. Antico, who has spent much of the season as a reserve, earned his third start in four games. The St. Johns product factored into two of Mat-Su’s three runs.

“Michael Antico has sat the bench pretty much the whole summer. He got an opportunity a couple of nights ago to start, and he earned another start tonight,” Taylor said. “He gave us a big lift tonight. I have a lot of respect for somebody who doesn’t check out late in the summer based on his playing time, and continues to play hard for his teammates.”

Mike Antico scored a run and drove in another to lead the Miners at the plate. In the sixth, Rainer Ausmus sparked the Miners with a single. Preston Pavlica entered the game for Ausmus as a pinch-runner, and Antico followed with a single.

Later in the inning, Quin Cotton used a double to right-centerfield to drive in both runners and give the Miners the 2-0 lead.

In the seventh, Antico helped add some insurance. Antico hit into a fielder’s choice, but with his speed, Antico beat the throw to avoid the double play and allow Marchena to score to give the Miners the 3-0 lead.

Zach Hardy and Josh Green also pitched a scoreless inning each for the Miners. Green pitched the ninth and earned his fifth save of the summer.

Kerr and Mikey Hoehner had two hits each to lead the Oilers.

With the win, league-leading Mat-Su improved to 22-14. Peninsula dropped to 16-21. The teams meet again Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Hermon Brothers.

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