Mat Su Miners

A committee of Glacier Pilots pitchers shut out the first place Peninsula Oilers on Monday night, holding the Oilers to just three base hits in a 2-0 victory.  Matt Vinson and Dustin Torchio drove in the Pilots only runs, on back to back RBI hits in the third inning. The loss sends the Oilers to 19 and 10 in the Alaska Baseball League, still three and a half games ahead of the second place Anchorage Bucs.  The Bucs fell to the Mat-Su Miners on Monday, 8-4.  The Miners collected four runs in the first and padded their lead with three in the fourth inning.

The ABL-leading Peninsula Oilers missed a chance to put pressure on their pursuers with a 5-2 loss to the Athletes In Action Fire on Wednesday night.  The loss enables the idle Mat-Su Miners to climb within two and a half games of first place.  The Miners have three league games to play while the Oilers have five. Fading fast are the Anchorage Bucs, who lost for the fourth straight time, 3-1 to the Glacier Pilots.  Aaron Judge and Kavin Keyes each drove in a run in the Pilots two-run fourth inning, while seven Pilots pitchers combined to retire the final 16 batters of the evening.

The Peninsula Oilers reduced their magic number for clinching the Alaska Baseball League title to one with a 9-3 victory over the last place Athletes in Action Fire Thursday night in Kenai.  The Oilers improve to 20 and 12 in league play and need only one more win in their last four games or a Mat-Su Miners loss in their last three games to win the ABL crown for the first time since 2006. The Miners ( 18 and 15 in league ) eliminated the Bucs from the title chase with a 2-1 win at Mulcahy Stadium on Thursday.  Ben Graff tossed seven scoreless innings for Mat-Su.  The Bucs have now dropped five straight games and have scored only two runs in the their last 18 innings.

The Alaska Baseball League champion Peninsula Oilers announced their presence in Wichita, Kansas with a 14-1 drubbing of the Northwest Honkers from Washington in round one of the double elimination National Baseball Congress World Series.  Stephen Branca, newly acquired from the Mat-Su Miners, cleared the bases with a three-run double in the first inning and Patrick Wisdom homered in the Oilers seven-run second inning as Kenai won...

Patrick Wisdom of the Peninsula Oilers and Adam Martin of the Mat-Su Miners continued their home run derby in regular season play on Monday.  One day after Martin defeated Wisdom in the finals of the ABL's first home run derby contest on All-Star Sunday, both players belted homers to help their teams to victory. Wisdom connected for his league-leading fourth homer of ABL action in the Oilers 8-4 victory over the Pilots.  The win gives Kenai a 16 and 7 ABL record, good for a four game lead over the Anchorage Bucs.

The Anchorage Glacier Pilots spoiled the opening game at Chugiak-Eagle River's Loretta French Ballpark with a 6-1 win over the Chinooks on Monday night.  The victory marks the first all summer for the Pilots after beginning the season with seven straight losses, while the Chinooks drop to 3 and 1 in Alaska Baseball League play. Nick Backlund ( Mercer ) went 3 for 4 for the Pilots, while Tyler Spoon ( Arkansas ) clubbed a 400 foot two-run homer.  Elsewhere in the ABL, the Peninsula Oilers improved to 6 and 1 in league play with a 9-1 rout of the Mat-Su Miners.  Kenai pounded out 15 hits in the victory, led by Jimmy Koch's three-run homer.

For a second straight night the Anchorage Glacier Pilots have picked up a win.  The Pilots topping the Bucs 4-1 Sunday night improving their league record to 4-12.   Trailing 1-0 heading into the top of the fourth inning the blue caps would rally, a Kavin Keyes single to left scored Cael Brockmeyer.  Maxx Garrett, the next batter to enter the box, would rocket a ball to right deep enough for a two RBI triple, Cederquist and Keyes into score. The Pilots would add one more run late to win 4-1. Monday as part of the July 4th celebration these two teams will play a double header beginning at 2pm.  After the second game there will be fireworks for the fans.

The Anchorage Bucs needed almost six full innings to manage even one base hit against Glacier Pilots starter Paul Moeller on Tuesday night. Once they broke through, there was no stopping them. The Bucs scored all their runs in the sixth inning of a 6-2 win over the Pilots. Trailing 1-0 to begin the inning, Jake Valdez ended Moeller's no hit bid with a one-out single. Later in the sixth, Ryan Palermo cleared the bases with a three-run triple to give the Bucs their first lead. Two more runs followed on a sacrifice bunt and a wild pitch, and then Joe Winterburn capped the rally with a solo home run. With the win, the Bucs improve to 8 and 6 in the ABL, while the Pilots drop to 5 and 14. In Tuesday's only other league action, the Athletes In Action Fire managed a doubleheader split with the first place Mat Su Miners ( 11-6 in league )

The newest franchise in the Alaska Baseball League wasted little time getting comfortable on Wednesday night. The Chugiak-Eagle River Chinooks, a relocated team formerly known as the Athletes In Action Fire, topped the Anchorage Bucs, 3-2 on opening night of league play to earn the first win in the new team's history.  The Chinooks took their only lead of the game in the eighth inning when the Bucs' Garrrett Mattlage overthrew first...

Chase Compton went 3 for 4 and drove in the tying run with a seventh inning double as the Anchorage Bucs took a step towards snapping a six-year title drought in the annual Mayor's Cup series against the Anchorage Glacier Pilots with a 5-4 win on Monday night in game one of the 2012 series.  The Bucs can clinch their first Mayor's Cup title since 2005 by winning Tuesday or Wednesday. Following Compton's one-out double in the seventh inning that evened the score at 4-4, Danny Susdorf delivered the go-ahead RBI on an infield single that went off the glove of the shortstop, who was playing in.  Susdorf, Colin Ferguson, and Ryan Leonards all collected two hits for the Bucs, while Jeff Grijalva picked up the win in relief.

Chase Compton went 3 for 4 and drove in the tying run with a seventh inning double as the Anchorage Bucs took a step towards snapping a six-year title drought in the annual Mayor's Cup series against the Anchorage Glacier Pilots with a 5-4 win on Monday night in game one of the 2012 series.  The Bucs can clinch their first Mayor's Cup title since 2005 by winning Tuesday or Wednesday. Following Compton's one-out double in the seventh inning that evened the score at 4-4, Danny Susdorf delivered the go-ahead RBI on an infield single that went off the glove of the shortstop, who was playing in.  Susdorf, Colin Ferguson, and Ryan Leonards all collected two hits for the Bucs, while Jeff Grijalva picked up the win in relief.

The Anchorage Glacier Pilots spoiled the opening game at Chugiak-Eagle River's Loretta French Ballpark with a 6-1 win over the Chinooks on Monday night.  The victory marks the first all summer for the Pilots after beginning the season with seven straight losses, while the Chinooks drop to 3 and 1 in Alaska Baseball League play. Nick Backlund ( Mercer ) went 3 for 4 for the Pilots, while Tyler Spoon ( Arkansas ) clubbed a 400 foot two-run homer.  Elsewhere in the ABL, the Peninsula Oilers improved to 6 and 1 in league play with a 9-1 rout of the Mat-Su Miners.  Kenai pounded out 15 hits in the victory, led by Jimmy Koch's three-run homer.

The newest franchise in the Alaska Baseball League wasted little time getting comfortable on Wednesday night. The Chugiak-Eagle River Chinooks, a relocated team formerly known as the Athletes In Action Fire, topped the Anchorage Bucs, 3-2 on opening night of league play to earn the first win in the new team's history.  The Chinooks took their only lead of the game in the eighth inning when the Bucs' Garrrett Mattlage overthrew first...

The Alaska Baseball League champion Peninsula Oilers announced their presence in Wichita, Kansas with a 14-1 drubbing of the Northwest Honkers from Washington in round one of the double elimination National Baseball Congress World Series.  Stephen Branca, newly acquired from the Mat-Su Miners, cleared the bases with a three-run double in the first inning and Patrick Wisdom homered in the Oilers seven-run second inning as Kenai won...

The Peninsula Oilers reduced their magic number for clinching the Alaska Baseball League title to one with a 9-3 victory over the last place Athletes in Action Fire Thursday night in Kenai.  The Oilers improve to 20 and 12 in league play and need only one more win in their last four games or a Mat-Su Miners loss in their last three games to win the ABL crown for the first time since 2006. The Miners ( 18 and 15 in league ) eliminated the Bucs from the title chase with a 2-1 win at Mulcahy Stadium on Thursday.  Ben Graff tossed seven scoreless innings for Mat-Su.  The Bucs have now dropped five straight games and have scored only two runs in the their last 18 innings.

The ABL-leading Peninsula Oilers missed a chance to put pressure on their pursuers with a 5-2 loss to the Athletes In Action Fire on Wednesday night.  The loss enables the idle Mat-Su Miners to climb within two and a half games of first place.  The Miners have three league games to play while the Oilers have five. Fading fast are the Anchorage Bucs, who lost for the fourth straight time, 3-1 to the Glacier Pilots.  Aaron Judge and Kavin Keyes each drove in a run in the Pilots two-run fourth inning, while seven Pilots pitchers combined to retire the final 16 batters of the evening.

Dennis Mattingly, the man who founded the Anchorage Bucs baseball team in 1980 and has been running the organization ever since, will step down as general manager.  The Bucs say that Shawn Maltby, currently the general manager of the Peninsula Oilers, will take his place, effective September first.  Mattingly put his stamp on Alaska baseball when he formed the Bucs, then known as the Cook Inlet Bucs, a men's adult league team in Anchorage.  They soon became members of the Alaska Baseball League where they still call home.

A committee of Glacier Pilots pitchers shut out the first place Peninsula Oilers on Monday night, holding the Oilers to just three base hits in a 2-0 victory.  Matt Vinson and Dustin Torchio drove in the Pilots only runs, on back to back RBI hits in the third inning. The loss sends the Oilers to 19 and 10 in the Alaska Baseball League, still three and a half games ahead of the second place Anchorage Bucs.  The Bucs fell to the Mat-Su Miners on Monday, 8-4.  The Miners collected four runs in the first and padded their lead with three in the fourth inning.

The Anchorage Glacier Pilots rallied for eight runs in their final three at-bats to stun the Mat-Su Miners, 8-7 in Thursday night action in the Alaska Baseball League.  Kavin Keyes ( Oregon State University ) produced a three-run double in the eighth inning to make it close and then connected for the game winning two-run double in the ninth to give the Pilots the win.  Brady Hohl went 4 for 5 for the Pilots, while Maxx Garrett clubbed a two-run homer.  Mat-Su led the game 5-0 in the seventh inning.

Patrick Wisdom of the Peninsula Oilers and Adam Martin of the Mat-Su Miners continued their home run derby in regular season play on Monday.  One day after Martin defeated Wisdom in the finals of the ABL's first home run derby contest on All-Star Sunday, both players belted homers to help their teams to victory. Wisdom connected for his league-leading fourth homer of ABL action in the Oilers 8-4 victory over the Pilots.  The win gives Kenai a 16 and 7 ABL record, good for a four game lead over the Anchorage Bucs.