Rally in the Valley

PALMER — Since dropping their first contest of the season, the Mat-Su Miners have only trailed in a game once. That was a 1-0 second-inning deficit during a 7-4 nonleague win over the Lake Erie Monarchs on June 12.

Other than that, the Miners have spent most of the first two weeks of the Alaska Baseball League season with the lead. But on Friday, the Miners proved they can also play from behind.

Mat-Su scored seven unanswered runs to erase AIA’s early 4-0 lead, and the Miners notched a 7-4 ABL win over the Athletes in Action Fire at Hermon Brothers Field.

“They refused to give up today,” Mat-Su head coach Russell Raley said of a Miners team that has now won six straight.

Relievers Owen Dew and Will Musson combined to allow only three hits during six scoreless innings, and the Mat-Su offense posted at least two runs in three different innings as the Miners improved to 6-1 overall.

“I told the guys, we’ll just chip away,” Raley said. “I thought they’d give us a chance to get back in it, and they did.”

After AIA tapped Mat-Su starter David Stilley for four runs in the third, the Miners scored two in the fourth to cut the deficit and three in the following inning to take the lead.

Early in the fifth, speedy Mat-Su center fielder Nick Cox, who leads the club with six stolen bases, scored the go-ahead run from second on an error by AIA first baseman Trey Wimmer.

With runners on first and second, Mat-Su outfielder James Ramsey sent a grounder to Wimmer, who fielded the ball right next to first base. Wimmer bobbled the ball, and as Ramsey legged out the play to reach first safely, Cox motored through third. Once Ramsey was safe at first, Wimmer threw the ball away in the infield, which allowed Cox to score.

“I thought it might get away,” Cox said. “We’ve got good team speed, so I thought I’d take a chance.”

Cox’ base running was just a piece of Mat-Su’s aggressive night on the base paths. In the bottom of the eighth, when Shane Brown reached on an errant throw by AIA third baseman Ryan Miller, Mat-Su pinchrunner Scott Arthur scored from first.

“Our guys, we’ve told them we’re going to play hard and run the bases hard,” Raley said. “They’re looking for the next base.”

Cox led the Miners with two hits and a run scored in the win. Ramsey doubled, and Brown, catcher Nick Croce, shortstop Blake Newalu, first baseman Jonathon Cisneros and designated hitter DJ Gentile singled during the victory.

The Miners had the bases loaded in the third, fourth and fifth innings.

Croce reached on an infield single and later scored on a long Ramsey fly out to put the Miners on the board in the fourth. Brown singled to drive in outfielder David Alleman later in the inning.

In the fifth, Alleman was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Gentile scored to cut AIA’s lead to 4-2. Infielder Chad Marshall tagged up on Newalu’s sacrifice fly to center and scored to tie the game at 4.

Stilley, who struck out eight en route to earning a win over the Alaska Goldpanners during his first start with the Miners last week, allowed five hits and four runs in three innings.

“It was just one of those days,” Raley said. “He did have the ball up a little more than his last start.”

Stilley fanned four Fire hitters, while walking just one.

Dew and Musson allowed a combined five base runners during their combined work.

“I thought they did an outstanding job throwing up zeros,” Raley said.

Dew is credited with the win, while Musson gets the rare four-inning save.

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