Trio of Miners named All-ABL

PALMER - A trio of Mat-Su Miners were included on the 2006 All-Alaska Baseball League, released by the ABL on Monday.

One of those players, outfielder Donald Brown, was recognized as the co-MVP of the six-team amateur summer league.

Second baseman Travis Coulter and starting pitcher Chris Wietlispach joined Brown as All-ABL selections.

Brown, a Pepperdine University sophomore, hit .292 for the Miners, while starting most of Mat-Su's games in right field. He also recorded 38 hits, scored 27 runs and drew a league-high 36 walks.

&#8220Brown's a solid player, definitely a pro prospect,” Mat-Su general manager Pete Christopher said.

Coulter started 34 games at second for the Miners, and hit in the team's two-spot. He flirted with the .300 mark throughout the season, ended the summer at .287. He had 39 hits, scored 18 runs and drove in 17 runs.

In the field, he had a team-high 89 assists against seven errors.

Wietlispach was arguably the most effective pitcher in the league during the summer. He was 4-2 with 45 strikeouts and a 1.65 earned run average in 43 innings.

Notable omissions on the All-ABL squad were Mat-Su outfielder Joe Ercolano and starting pitcher David Gruener.

Ercolano was arguably the best hitter in the league over the course of the two-month season. He was among league leaders in batting average (.344), on base percentage (.428), hits (53), singles (45) and runs (29). He recorded at least one hit in 35 of 41 games.

&#8220I'm very disappointed in Ercolano not making the all-star team,” Christopher said. &#8220He's our team MVP.”

Gruener was among league leaders with a 1.54 ERA in 47 innings.

The ABL champion Peninsula Oilers placed four players on the all-star squad, including co-MVP Jake Kahaulelio. The second-place Anchorage Bucs had five members on the squad, including co-MVP Bryan Peterson.

Brown, Kahaulelio and Peterson finished in a three-way tie for the prize given to the top player in the league.

Peninsula's Thad Johnson was named coach of the year.

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