Staff of studs deliver one more time

Aug. 3, 2007

By Jeremiah Bartz/ Frontiersman

PALMER - Pitching is the reason why the Mat-Su Miners rose to the top of the Alaska Baseball League. And pitching is the reason why the Miners stayed on top of the ABL.

Jason Erickson and Max Peterson combined for a four-hit shutout, and the Mat-Su pitchers were helped by a stellar defensive effort, as the Miners scored a 2-0 win over the Anchorage Glacier Pilots in front of season-high 1,171 fans in the 2007 finale at Hermon Brothers Field on Tuesday.

The win gave Mat-Su a 24-11 record for the 2007 season, and the Miners finish the year in a first-place tie with Athletes in Action.

AIA posted a controversial 8-4 win over the Peninsula Oilers on Tuesday, and beat the Pilots 3-0 in Anchorage on Wednesday.

Erickson, a University of Washington product who was named the Miners' pitcher of the year on Sunday, allowed just four hits in seven innings of work against Anchorage. He also struck out two Pilot hitters.

Peterson earned the win in relief, and improved to 5-0 after not allowing a hit in two innings.

&#8220Pitching and defense, that's the name of the game,” Mat-Su left fielder Joey August said after the win.

The Miners managed only five hits themselves in the game. But much like they have throughout the summer, the the Valley squad got the hits when they needed them.

Mat-Su doubled twice and scored both of its runs in the eighth inning.

&#8220That's been our signature,” August said. &#8220And great pitching kept us in it.”

Derek Helenihi led off the eighth inning with a double to left field. And after a failed bunt attempt by Gunner Terhune, Carl Uhl blooped a hit into short, left center field to score Helenihi.

Uhl ended up with a double on the play. The ball dropped into the grass just beyond the infield, but rolled most of the way toward the left field fence.

The speedy Uhl is always a threat to bunt, but even though there was only one out, Uhl said the bunt didn't cross his mind.

&#8220With the go-ahead run in scoring position, there's no way I'm going to bunt there,” Uhl said. &#8220You might as well go for it there, and it worked out good.”

Following the Uhl hit, Anchorage intentionally walked Ben Price to get to August, arguably Mat-Su's most consistent hitter of the season.

August drew another walk to load the bases, and Ryan Conan followed with a sacrifice fly to score Uhl.

The Miners earned their league-best 24th win on Tuesday, but on Thursday the team was still waiting to hear if they'd be officially called ABL champions.

&#8220We've got the best league record, so why can't we be called co-league champions?” Mat-Su general manager Pete Christopher asked on Thursday. &#8220Why not co-champions?”

Thanks to a controversial 8-4 win over the Peninsula Oilers on Tuesday and a 3-0 shutout over the Glacier Pilots on Wednesday, the Fire ended the season tied with the Miners at 24-11. But because the Fire hold the advantage in the seven-game series against Mat-Su, AIA is claiming to be the sole champions of the ABL.

According to ABL bylaws, winning the season series only proves to be tiebreaker when multiple teams are vying for the league's lone berth to the National Baseball Congress World Series in Wichita, Kan.

When considering that, the Miners contend they have laid claim to at least a piece of the prize.

AIA reached the 24-win mark in the most unusual of ways.

AIA's game against the Oilers was suspended in the 17th inning due to darkness. If a game is suspended in the ABL, it must be made up the following day, according to league rules. But the Oilers were set to depart to Kansas to compete in the NBC World Series and were forced to forfeit. That forfeit gave AIA it's 23rd win.

On Wednesday, AIA posted a 3-0 win over a depleted Glacier Pilot squad. The Pilots were without six players - five pitchers and their starting catcher - for the final game of the season.

The six missing players left the Glacier Pilots to join other teams competing in the NBC World Series.

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