Mat-Su Miners 2024 Season Preview

Miners fans, the wait is almost over.

The 2024 season for the Mat-Su Miners starts in 2 weeks and the mission for this season is clear: win the Alaska Baseball League Championship. In 2023, the Miners were an impressive 24-17 which netted them the best record in the ABL and the regular season championship. Mat-Su came incredibly close to the ultimate prize as they made it to the Top of the World Championship Series, but were ultimately stopped by the Anchorage Glacier Pilots. This year they look to flip the script and reach the summit of the ABL.

Tyler LeBrun will once again lead the charge for Mat-Su as he enters his 7th year as Head Coach of the Miners. He will certainly have an all-star cast around him which includes players who are making waves all across the country. Mat-Su will also have one local product on the team in Nolan Murphy from Wasilla, who comes into his first year on the team as a Right-Handed Pitcher from Central Washington University.

Speaking of pitching, if last year is anything to go by, then Mat-Su should excel in that department once again in 2024. The Miners were the top pitching team in the ABL a year ago with a 3.48 Season ERA. Just some of the upcoming exceptional pitchers include Ben DeTaeye (Iowa), Drew Koenen (Dartmouth), and Tucker Timmerman (Nebraska). There is no question that you will want to keep your eye on the men on the mound this season.

As for position players, Mat-Su is not lacking in those either. Ryan Cochran (Lehigh), Ryker Schow (BYU), and Drake Kerr (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi) have especially stood out as a few of the names who have lit up scoreboards across the country, and look to be some of the brightest stars that the ABL has to offer.

Miners General Manager Pete Christopher shares in the excitement and hope for a championship in 2024. "We like winning the league, but we've also been knocked out of the playoffs the last couple of years. We like to win everything." Of course a summer in Alaska is a unique challenge for players no matter where they come from, and Christopher knows that better than anybody. "We (ABL) are probably the #2 summer collegiate league in the country behind the Cape Cod Baseball League, so it's good competition. Our position players are also transitioning from aluminum to wood bats this summer, so that is going to be another new thing for them. It always makes things interesting."

One thing Christopher knows as well as anybody is the history and magnitude that this team carries. They have hardly finished below 2nd in the league in the last 15 years, and more often than not, the Miners bring in the most fans of any team. An ABL Championship in 2024 would serve as a jewel in the crown of one of Alaska's premiere baseball organizations.

The action all starts on June 5th as the Miners travel to Mulcahy Stadium to take on the Anchorage Bucs, and then head south to take on the Chugiak-ER Chinooks on June 6th. Then on June 7th is the long-awaited home debut for 2024 as the Miners will host the Anchorage Glacier Pilots at Hermon Brothers Field in a Top of the World Championship Series Rematch.

Despite all of the unknowns, there is one thing that we can declare with certainty. In 2024, the Mat-Su Miners will be looking for a "Gold Rush."