Mat-Su Rides Dominant Pitching to Second Straight 2-1 Win

To call the Mat-Su Miners' pitching staff "good" would be like calling Mount Denali "tall." It would technically be correct, but would undersell the truth to such a comical degree as to sacrifice the true depth of it. Climbing Mount Denali isn't like climbing any old "tall" mountain, it's the highest climb from base to summit in the world. As difficult a climb as that is, however, outscoring the Miners when their pitching is at its best might just rival it.

Mat-Su squeaked out a 2-1 win at Hermon Brothers Field on Sunday over the Peninsula Oilers, with whom the Miners are currently jockeying for second place in the Alaska Baseball League. The home team's pitchers combined for nine innings of one-run, five-hit, zero-walk, sixteen-strikeout baseball.

The Oilers, fresh off a lopsided loss to the last-place Anchorage Glacier Pilots that dropped them half a game behind the Miners, notched the first run of the game. Mat-Su starter Jack Hostetler (2-2) allowed just his second earned run of the season when Peninsula center fielder Colin Robson – author of two home runs against the Miners this season – doubled in Cole Dawson. Hostetler ended the inning with a strikeout – one of twelve for the future Oregon State Beaver, the new highest single-game mark for any ABL pitcher this season – and proceeded to make sure the Oilers offense couldn't muster any more runs from there.

For as stellar as the Miners' staff was, the Oilers do deserve some props. Eddie Leon (1-2) went seven innings along with Hostetler, and despite managing just one strikeout, was solid save for one massive mistake. In the bottom of the fourth, Mat-Su first baseman Christian Perez took the Marshall product deep for a two-run blast. That one swing wound up being the difference in the game, as from then on, neither squad would mount much of an offensive threat.

In total, the Miners managed six hits to the Oilers' five, and committed one error to Peninsula's two. Aside from Tuesday's bizarre 11-7 loss to Chugiak-Eagle River, Mat-Su's pitchers have allowed just four earned runs in its last eight games.

With second place in the ABL now running through the Miners, Mat-Su now sets its sights on something bigger – a shot at the league's top seed. They'll get a chance to pull closer when they head down to Anchorage for a double-header on Monday against the Bucs.

Those games will start at 4:00 and 6:00 AKDT, so come to Mulcahy Stadium or tune in to the Mat-Su Miners YouTube channel to watch the action!

Charlie Fellows, 2024 Broadcaster
Mat-Su Miners