Win keeps Miners in hunt

ANCHORAGE — The Mat-Su Miners are narrowing the gap at the top of the Alaska Baseball League standings.

Having spent much of July hovering around the .500 mark, the Miners are back in the race for the ABL title after extending their winning streak to four games with a 7-2 win over Anchorage Bucs at Mulcahy Stadium in Anchorage on Sunday.

As of press time Monday evening, Mat-Su (17-13) stood 2 1/2 games behind the first-place Anchorage Glacier Pilots (19-10) in the ABL standings. The Pilots faced the Alaska Goldpanners in Fairbanks on Monday night, but results were unavailable prior to press time.

Mat-Su starter Jason Erickson pitched six strong innings and the Miners offense supplied four late runs en route to Sunday’s win.

“Our team is hitting our stride at the right time,” Mat-Su head coach Conor Bird said. “It’ll be fun to see what happens over the next week.”

The Miners have five games left on the 2008 regular season schedule, including the rare home-and-home doubleheader against the Bucs today.

The action starts at Hermon Brothers Field in Palmer, with the Miners hosting the Bucs at noon. Following that nine-inning contest, the teams take the 45-minute trek south to prepare for a 7 p.m. clash at Mulcahy Stadium in Anchorage.

“We just need to continue to win,” Bird said.

The Miners still have a two-game series against the Peninsula Oilers left, and the season finale against the Alaska Goldpanners on Friday at Hermon Brothers.

The Pilots end the regular season in Fairbanks. Anchorage plays the Panners today at Growden Park, and meets the AIA Fire in a doubleheader on Wednesday.

The Pilots’ season finale is Thursday against the Fire.

“Hopefully we continue to play well, and continue to do what we can,” Bird said. “And hopefully someone will take care of them.”

While Mat-Su has held its own against much of the six-team ABL, the Pilots have had the Miners number this year. Anchorage finished 6-1 in the seven-game season series against the Miners, and own the tiebreaker in the event the two teams finished in a first-place tie at the top of the ABL standings.

D.J. Gentile sparked the Mat-Su offense with a first-inning RBI-triple on Sunday. Steve Domecus, Blake Newalu and Pat Minogue each drove in late runs to help the Miners secure their 17th league win of the year.

Jordin Hood and Troy Scott collected two hits each and also drove in runs.

Erickson improved to 6-1 on the summer with the win. The University of Washington product allowed six hits and two earned runs in the victory. He also fanned five, while walking just one hitter.

Charles Ruiz and Steven Fischback combined for three innings of scoreless relief.

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