Miners Shutout Pilots for 10 Straight Wins

In the month of July, heat is usually a signature feature. For the 2024 Mat-Su Miners season, they have proven that assumption to be absolutely true. However, after 2 days off since a Monday Matchup to the Chugiak-ER Chinooks, the question entering a doubleheader against the Anchorage Glacier Pilots was whether the Miners could turn up the heat once again. The Pilots after all, were the last team to hand the Miners a loss.

For Game #1, Mat-Su called on the services of Tucker Timmerman, and the Nebraska Cornhusker had his eyes on a complete game performance. David Heefner would take the mound on the opposite side, but would quickly feel the pressure of the Miners. After a quiet 1st Inning, the Miners would deliver in the top of the 2nd with a Logan Vaughan RBI Single to score Dom Patrizi. Vaughan would then be scored in his own right by a Wild Pitch from Heefner to give the Miners a 2-0 lead. This scoring station was far from reaching the station though, as Drake Kerr would rake once again with a 2-Run Double to score both Chase Wilcox and Blake Balsz and hand Mat-Su a 4-0 advantage. This was the blazing start that the Miners were looking for.

After a quiet bottom of the 2nd and quick top of the 3rd, Tucker Timmerman would deliver his best inning perhaps of the season by striking out 3 batters in a row in Troy Sanders, Logan Sanders, and Dylan Marx. Timmerman had not even managed a strikeout in the game beforehand, making for a heck of a frame. The top of the 4th saw Blake Balsz start the party with a Single and would then be brought home as Drake Kerr would double for the 2nd straight at-bat and give Mat-Su a stranglehold on the game with a 6-0 lead. From that point forward, Mat-Su could cruise.

Again the Pilots would come up empty in the bottom of the 4th leading to a quiet finish the rest of the way home. Outside of Mat-Su loading the bases in the top of the 5th and the odd hit here and there, the game was fairly straightforward. Tucker Timmerman would go the distance and pitch his first complete game of the season, giving up no earned runs along the way. The Miners would clinch the game in the bottom of the 7th and manage their 2nd consecutive shutout victory while moving to 21-13 in the process. However, the job was not over just yet.

In Game #2, it was Rocco Bernadina's time to shine from the bump as he looked to help give Mat-Su their 10th consecutive victory on the season. In the 1st Inning the Miners would be 1-2-3'd, and the Pilots found a chance to do what they failed at in Game #1 by taking the early lead. Anchorage would manage runners in the corners but after a Jack Dorn line out to left field Anchorage would once again be disappointed on their way to 0 runs scored.

The 2nd Inning featured some of the oddest scoring for the Miners this side of the season. Dom Patrizi would start things off with a Single and a stolen base to quickly get into scoring position. Then, Blake Balsz would deliver an RBI Triple to the right field corner that would score Patrizi and lead to Balsz literally shrugging his shoulders at his good fortune. With a good shot at scoring Balsz, Ryan Cocrhan would head to the plate and pop a ball up to the 1st Baseman Jake Dodge, but he was so far into foul ground on the catch that Balsz would manage to reach home plate and give Mat-Su a 2-0 lead. The Miners were right where they wanted to be again.

After a 1-2-3 inning from Rocco Bernadina, Mat-Su would get on the scoreboard once again after a Drake Kerr Double and a Kyle McCausland RBI Single to score Kerr and give the Miners a 3-0 lead. In the bottom frame, Bernadina would strikeout Chase Knight and Luke Stulga to preserve the advantage and bring the game to the 4th. Mat-Su was in no mood to slow down as they would load the bases to set up Nick Bisaccia to deliver an RBI with 0 outs. Bisaccia would end up grounding into a 6-4-3 double play, but would end up watching Patrizi come in to give the Miners a 4-0 advantage. Ryker Schow would only keep the tempo going with an RBI Single to score the lone runner left on base in Blake Balsz. The score did not lie, Mat-Su was dominating and now led 5-0.

Anchorage would give the Miners their most trouble in the bottom of the 4th by loading the bases with 2 outs. However, a ground ball by Marcus Sanders would see to it that the Pilots would score no runs in the frame and remain with a goose egg on the board. In the 5th, Mat-Su and Anchorage were both relatively quiet. Ben Detaeye would come into the game in the bottom of the 5th in Rocco Bernadina' stead and immediately get 2 K's to bring the game to the top of the 6th and keep the Miners in position. In that 6th Inning, both teams would get 1-2-3'd in one of the quickest innings of the year leading to the 7th and Mat-Su looking to lock up another shutout win.

Chase Wilcox managed a single in the top of the 7th Inning but a double play ground out by Drake Kerr allowed the Pilots to keep the lead at 5-0 for the Miners. In the bottom frame of the 7th, Mat-Su would call on the services of Eduardo Mendoza to close the game out. He started off well with a strikeout on Logan Sanders and a fly out on Marcus Sanders to quickly get 2 outs. Anchorage would not be put down easily however as they would load the bases on a Dylan Marx Single and a Chase Knight Fielder's Choice. However, the final man to the plate was a batter who had struck out in all of his at-bats in Game #2 in Luke Stulga. He added to that statline with yet another K to end the game and allow Mat-Su to grab a 5-0 win.

The stats tell the story for Mat-Su in this doubleheader. Mat-Su shutout the Pilots in 14 straight innings and put 11 runs of their own on the board in the process. They have now won 10 straight games, easily the longest streak in the ABL this season, and have won 3 straight games in shutout fashion. The Miners won their final 6 road games of the season and have now been rewarded. Their final 5 games of the regular season will all be at home before the Top of the World Playoffs where Mat-Su will look to be either the #1 or #2 seed. As of late there is no debating that Mat-Su has been a perfect 10.

Dylan Simmons, 2024 Broadcaster
Mat-Su Miners