Wind, Waves haunt Miners

PALMER -- Heavy winds howled through Hermon Brothers Field Wednesday, pushing virtually everything hit in the outfield toward the right side of the park.

The wind helped a Matt Weston hit leave the ballpark, but the Mat-Su long ball was not enough as Oceanside scored a wave of second inning runs en route to a 7-3 win over the Miners.

Winds plagued both squad's outfielders throughout the contest, making routine fly balls about as unpredictable as a pregnant woman's eating habits. Balls carried on the right side of the field, and died on the left. Weston's home run, an easy fly ball deep into the outfield, carried like a plastic bag in a breeze.

"It was a bit of an adventure out there," Mat-Su right fielder Cris Errecart said.

"The ball was pretty much a jet stream from left to right field," Mat-Su manager Mike Buchmiller said. "Some of those balls got up in the air and they're tough to judge. And this is just our fifth game at this ballpark, so (the outfielders) are still getting to know their ballpark."

The wind may have annoyed, but the second inning proved to be the deciding factor in the contest as Oceanside -- a San Diego, Calif.-based squad -- did virtually all of its damage. The Waves scored six runs and chased Mat-Su starter Ryan Edell off the mound.

Five Oceanside hits and a key Mat-Su error allowed the Waves to push six runs across the plate and take the initial 6-0 lead.

"They put some hits together," Buchmiller said. "The big play was at second base, we should have made a play on it."

Chris Mason -- a part of a stellar Mat-Su infield that has been a team strength early in the season -- made the move from third base to second with the arrival of Notre Dame infielder Matt Edwards. Mason, a pitcher by trade, has spent the better part of early June adjusting to his new positions in the infield for the Miners. After three straight Oceanside hits, Ryan Tousley hit a sharp ground ball toward Mason and as the North Carolina Greensboro product tried to put the double play in motion, the ball slipped by.

"It's tough, Chris Mason is filling in at second base," Buchmiller said. "He's not used to that pivot so he is trying to compensate and get it there as quick as possible, subsequently he forgot the ball and that cost us a run. Anytime at this level if you extend the inning you are asking for it."

After retiring three straight Wave hitters in the first inning, Edell faced 10 batters in the second. Though he had first-pitch strikes on the first eight hitters he saw, the College of Charleston hurler had high pitch counts too many of the batters he faced and his night ended prematurely.

"The air kind of deflated him. He tried a little too hard to make certain pitches," Buchmiller said. "(Edell) said he was a little tight and couldn't get loose."

Phil Futrick and Cody Campbell combined for just one earned run in seven innings of relief on the mound for the Miners. Futrick allowed just four hits and struck out two in just over four innings of work. Campbell punched out two batters and allowed only one hit in just more than two innings of time.

"They gave us every opportunity to stay in the game," Buchmiller said. "One run over seven innings -- anytime you get that out of the bullpen, that's excellent."

The Mat-Su bats woke up in the ninth after an eight-inning long nap as Weston started the comeback bid with his home run. The Miners followed with an Edwards double off the centerfield wall, a Scott Simon run-scoring single and a Billy Munich single to right field. The flurry of hits cut the Oceanside lead to 7-2. With runners at the corners, Josh Satin nearly pulled the Miners within a pair of runs as he ripped a ball down the right field line. The wind may have caused dirt to be blown into the field judge's eyes, as the ball -- clearly on the line -- was called foul. Though he could have been robbed of a double, Satin did push Simon across home plate with a sacrifice ground out.

"We put some stuff together, but it was too little too late," Buchmiller said. "We were within a bloop and a blast of being right back in the ball game."

Mat-Su dropped to 3-2 on the season. The Miners begin their Alaska League Baseball schedule with a Sunday home date against the Anchorage Glacier Pilots. The first pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m.

Miners 1, Stockton 0

Mason pitched a scoreless six innings to lead the Miners to a 1-0 win over the Stockton Senators.

Mason earned the win and Haley Winter and Daniel Stange combined for three innings of scoreless relief.

Simon drove in Weston in the fourth inning for the lone run of the contest.