University of Tennessee trio leads Miners to first win

PALMER — “Rocky Top” should have been playing through Hermon Brothers Field loudspeakers Thursday night.

It would have been appropriate to hear the University of Tennessee fight song after a trio of Volunteer freshmen pulled the Mat-Su Miners to a 6-0 victory over the Alaska Goldpanners in Palmer.

UT infielder AJ Simcox and outfielder Christin Stewart combined to collect four hits, three runs and two RBI, and UT right-hander Trevor Bettencourt tossed seven no-hit innings in his Alaska Baseball League debut. The combined effort helped Mat-Su grab a victory in its official ABL opener, and bounce back after two losses and a tie during preseason exhibition action.

Bettencourt, a California native who has never thrown a no-hitter, was a bit surprised to be in position for a no-hit bid.

“After the first inning, I didn’t really realize,” Bettencourt said after the win. “We went through the fifth or sixth inning and I came out to the mound and looked at the scoreboard, and it said zero hits. I didn’t really realize.”

Bettencourt was too busy plowing through the Panner lineup. He faced 23 batters in the game, and forced 21 outs. Bettencourt walked four hitters, but he fanned four, forced countless ground balls and was helped out by two big double plays. The San Jose, Calif., product was primarily used out of the bullpen as a freshman at UT, making 20 appearances with only three starts. He probably didn’t know what to expect out of his first start in the famed ABL, but his Tennessee teammates jokingly made predictions for him leading up to the start.

“My Tennessee teammates started talking and said, ‘hey you’re going to throw 81 pitches, and a complete game no-hitter,’” Bettencourt said with a laugh. “It was a complete joke.”

But Bettencourt came close, hitting 93 pitches in seven innings of no-hit baseball.

“He did a heck of a job,” Simcox said. “I think he’ll take the seven inning no-hitter. It’s a huge feat for him. He was a reliever out of the bullpen for us at UT. Coming in and throwing seven innings is remarkable, much less seven no-hit innings.”

His outing Thursday was the closest Bettencourt has come to the baseball milestone.

“In high school I was taken out in the seventh inning with two outs. The coaches didn’t know I had a no-hitter,” Bettencourt said. “This is the closest I’ve ever been.”

Miners head coach Ben Taylor jokingly said he figured he’d get booed when he sat Bettencourt after seven and went to the bullpen for the final two innings.

“At like (93 pitches), you got to take care of him,” Taylor said.

Bettencourt walked back-to-back pitchers to put two with one out in the seventh, but Bettencourt forced Panners designated hitter Jim Sinatro to ground out into a double play to end the inning.

“First game of the year, it was a smart decision,” Bettencourt said. “I’m guessing they have the faith in me to be able to do it again. Obviously my health, my arm is probably better than getting a no-hitter.”

Taylor praised Bettencourt’s work on the mound.

“He threw a ton of strikes, pounded the zone from the get-go, let the defense work,” Taylor said. “It says a lot about his competitiveness, and it says a lot about the way he was taught to play the game at UT by Miner (coaching) alumni Dave Serrano and Bill Mosiello.”

Serrano, UT’s head coach, was an assistant with the Miners in 1991. Mosiello, a UT assistant, served as head coach for two seasons in the early 1990s.

Simcox and Stewart helped give the Miners the early lead. Simcox led off with a single to left field and later scored on a Stewart single to right. Stewart scored on Gio Brusa’s ground out to give the Miners the 2-0 lead late in the first inning.

Mat-Su padded its advantage in the second as the Miners recorded three doubles in the inning.

Jack Amaro led off the inning with a double, and the Miners struck quickly as Simcox and infielder Nash Knight posted consecutive doubles midway through the inning. Stewart also had an RBI in the inning.

“They were attacking the baseball from the plate,” Taylor said. “That’s what we’ve been trying to get them to do.”

The Miners finished with eight hits in the game. The Fairbanks-based Panners managed only two hits late in the contest.

The Miners return to the field to host the Anchorage Glacier Pilots Saturday at 7 p.m.