Mat-Su Offense Disappears in Third Straight Loss to Peninsula

After five games of ABL play, the Mat-Su Miners had scored 45 runs – by far the most in the league, and good enough for a 4-1 record and the inside track to the top seed in the season's early going. Their low watermark for runs in a game was eight. Things were great.

Then, the Miners took a trip down to Kenai.

Far from the sunshine and friendly confines of Hermon Brothers Field in Palmer, Mat-Su's offense completely dried up through the first three games of the five-game set against the Peninsula Oilers. The Miners managed one run in a 1-1 loss on Tuesday (no that isn't a typo, read more here), before rebounding to a respectable three in a tight loss the following day. On Thursday, however, they hit rock bottom in a 2-0 shutout defeat.

Noah Kendrick (0-1) got into a pattern almost immediately of allowing multiple baserunners before escaping without much damage. He allowed back-to-back singles to open the game before striking out the next three batters. In the second, a pair of errors loaded the bases with no one out before a pinpoint Kyle McCausland throw helped to get Kendrick to the doorstep of escape. Unfortunately, a Petey Soto sac fly got the Oilers on the board before the inning was over.

After a similar frame in the third, the bill finally came due for Kendrick in the fourth, when he was removed from the game after allowing runners to reach first and third with one out. His replacement, Nolan Murphy, allowed what was scored an error, despite the extraordinary difficulty of his attempted backhand flip to first base, that let the second run score. From there, he and Hayden Hattenbach, both making their Miners debuts, pitched well, allowing just one baserunner during the entire rest of the contest.

Unfortunately, the bats did not deliver.

The two-man tandem of Cameron Tabor (1-0) and Colby Reynolds completely blanked the Miners to the tune of just two hits and seven strikeouts. The loss switches the surging 4-3 Oilers with the faltering 4-4 Miners in the standings, but Mat-Su can still rebound and head back to Palmer in second place.

For that, Mat-Su needs a pair of wins in the last two games in Kenai, beginning Friday night at 6 PM AKDT.

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Charlie Fellows, 2024 Broadcaster
Mat-Su Miners