Miners Walk Off Bucs to Clinch a Spot in ABL Championship

The Miners defeated the Anchorage Bucs 5-4 Thursday night in an extra-innings finish at Hermon Brothers Field. The Miners capture their 11th straight win, and clinch one of the two spots in the Alaska Baseball League championship series, while the Bucs lose a must-win game and fall farther behind the Miners. 

The Miners and Bucs went back and forth all game long in the eighth meeting between the two teams. The game had two ties and three lead changes on his way to a walk-off finish off the bat of the newest Miner in UCLA's Aidan Espinosa. 

Mat-Su got off to a hot start when they scored two runs off RBI singles by Colorado School of Mines' Evan Bilter, also known as "Captain Clutch," and Johnson University's Luke Wilson. 

Josh Jansen got the start for the Miners and glided through the first two innings, but one swing off the bat of Jaeden Toki quieted the Miners crowd with a two-run home run to left field—one of two homers hit in the game for the Bucs. 

Luke Wilson came in clutch a second time with a massive double to give the lead back to the Miners through the first three innings. Still, the latter of the two homers, this one to right field by Logan Yule, combined with a Ren Matsuzaki RBI single, had the game in the Bucs' favor 4-3, going to the bottom of the seventh. 

However, "Captain Clutch" earned his nickname for the second time in the game with a game-tying RBI single in the bottom of the seventh, and the game stayed quiet until the ninth inning. The Miners got two in scoring position in the bottom of the ninth before the Bucs got out of the jam due to a pair of strikeouts. 

The ABL uses the "California" extra-inning rule with a runner starting at second. In the first extra innings game of the 2025 ABL season, the first pitch in the top of the 10th led to a back-pick by BYU catcher Ridge Erickson at second base that easily beat pinch-runner Austin Gamell back to the bag, the second biggest play of the game. 

However, the biggest play of the night goes to a player who got to Palmer less than two weeks ago. UCLA junior Aidan Espinosa pinch-hit in the top of the 10th with the game on the line. 

"I've been in this situation with the Bruins a lot, and for me it's just another at bat, and I try to come through for my team, and thankfully this time I got it done," said the UCLA junior, as he tried to dry off from his Gatorade bath.

Espinosa drove a ball down the right field line to easily score the winning run and give the Miners an 11th straight win. 

Home-field advantage for the championship series is the only thing left on the Miners' minds as the magic number moves to three. The Miners play the Chinooks for a chance at 12 in a row Friday night.

Dylan VanderVeen
2025 Mat-Su Miners Broadcaster