Kerr’s Double Boosts Miners to Eleventh-Straight Win

Throughout the winning streak the Mat-Su Miners are currently authoring, the wins have mostly come in one of three ways. The Miners either stay close throughout and pull it out in the end, erase a big deficit for a thrilling go-ahead finish, or completely clobber their opposition from start to finish.

Sunday's afternoon tussle with the Anchorage Bucs was none of those.

Noah Kendrick started the game in front of a packed Hermon Brothers Field crowd and allowed a couple baserunners in the first, but no Anchorage runs. His counterpart, Bucs two-way star Cole Carlon, was not as fortunate. In one of the most inexplicable displays all season, Carlon would issue five walks, three of them with the bases loaded, and record just one out before having to be removed from the game. The shortest outing by any starting pitcher this season in the ABL gave way to Chad Gurnea, who threw one pitch and ended the nightmare frame by coaxing a Blake Balsz groundout.

Now with a three-run cushion, Kendrick wasted little time putting it to use. A leadoff walk yielded nothing for the Bucs in the second, but they would pounce on an opportunity in the following inning. After two quick outs, Kendrick walked Carlon to bring up Ryan Callahan, who immediately clobbered just his second extra base hit of the season over the right field fence. Kendrick got a pop out to end the frame, but also end his day on the mound.

In the bottom of the third, the Miners' bats quickly got a chunk of their early advantage back. Kyle McCausland and Brandyn Durand managed back-to-back leadoff singles off of Gurnea. After a Patrizi pop out, Ryker Schow drove McCausland in with an RBI double.

From there, the game shifted into a pitcher's duel for a bit. Hayden Hattenbach and Gurnea traded scoreless frames for the next three innings, with the score remaining at 4-2 Mat-Su. In the bottom of the seventh, the Miners added a critical insurance run on a Durand sac fly which drove Chase Wilcox, the hero throughout the streak, home on what was otherwise a quiet day for the infielder.

In the top of the eighth, the game would completely change. Hattenbach got into trouble after a single and a walk set the stage for a Payton Knowles RBI hit. Ryan Harrahill (4-1), on in Hattenbach's stead, let two more of Hattenbach's runs come in via a Will Burns sacrifice fly and subsequent wild pitch. The stage was thus set for one of Mat-Su's most dramatic wins of the season.

After giving up the lead, Harrahill gave way to Adam Enyart (1-1), the first new pitcher inserted by the Bucs since the first inning. Enyart faced just two batters, walking Ryan Cochran and surrendering a sacrifice bunt to Blake Balsz to get the go-ahead run to third. With the ABL not employing MLB's three-batter minimum for relievers, Bucs manager Bill Springman then opted for Jeremiah Arnett, one of the league's most effective relievers. Arnett walked pinch-hitter Christian Perez, bringing the top of the order and Wilcox into his sights.

In what may have seemed like a reasonable decision at the time, Springman immediately signaled for an intentional walk, opting to face Drake Kerr instead of the red-hot Wilcox. Unfortunately for the Bucs, Kerr is just as lethal.

The center fielder blasted a double out to the deepest recesses of Hermon Brothers Field, missing a grand slam by inches but still scoring Cochran and Perez while sending him, his teammates, and the Miners crowd into a frenzy. Arnett and the Bucs weren't out of the woods yet, either. With runners on second and third and just one out, Anchorage's high-leverage reliever was able to navigate through the rest of the frame, coaxing a fly out before another intentional walk led to a Patrizi bases-loaded strikeout.

For the Miners, however, two runs were enough. Drew Koenen came on in the ninth and had an uncharacteristically wild appearance. Andrew Lamb led off with a single, and Carlon walked him into scoring position. Callahan sacrifice bunted both up a base, and Koenen appeared to be about to allow his first earned runs of the season. Instead, Tommy Eisenstat lined out directly into the glove of Cochran, and by the time Carlon realized what was happening, the Mat-Su shortstop had already stepped on second base for the game-ending double play.

With the win, Mat-Su clinches a top-two seed in the ABL, meaning whichever opponent they match up with in this weekend's playoffs will have to come to Palmer to face them. The gap at the top of the league also narrows to just a game and a half, and the Miners and Bucs will face off twice more before the regular season comes to a close.

The first of those showdowns is set for Tuesday at 6:00 PM AKDT. Anyone in the area should come to the ballpark to make it as raucous and exciting an atmosphere as possible, but for those who can't, make sure to tune into the Mat-Su Miners' YouTube channel!

Charlie Fellows, 2024 Broadcaster
Mat-Su Miners