Glacier Pilots End the Miners' Win Streak in Walk-off Fashion

The Anchorage Glacier Pilots defeated the Mat-Su Miners 7-6 in 11 innings to end the Miners' win streak at 14 games. The Miners dropped to 20-6, while the Pilots secured win number nine to move to 9-16.

This game had little meaning for either side, with the Miners already clinching a spot in the postseason and the Glacier Pilots already eliminated from contention. However, the Pilots played one of their best games of the season in an up-and-down battle between Mat-Su and spoiled the win streak. 

The game featured four lead changes and two ties in the longest Alaska Baseball League game of the season. Mat-Su started hot in the first inning, scoring two runs off Galcier Pilot's starter AJ Frausto, but a quick answer by the Pilots tied up the game at 2-2 after one inning. 

A Cole Funkhouser triple put the Miner snack on top in the second inning, but the Galcier Pilots answered again with two runs in the bottom of the fourth thanks to a two-run double from Dylan Marx, taking the lead 4-3. 

The Pilots would go to the pen for Jace Russell and would score two runs in his first inning to take back the lead 5-4 in the top of the fifth. It would stay a 5-4 game until the bottom of the eighth when a sacrifice fly off the bat of Hunter Klotz tied the game up at 5-5. 

In extra innings, the Miners and the Galcier Pilots would both score a run in the 10th inning, before the Miners were shut down in the top of the 11th to give the Galcier Pilots a chance to walk it off. A chance Jett Ruby and the Galcier Pilots didn't miss, as a base hit into left field scored the winning run and gave the Miners their first loss in July. 

The Miners' win streak started and ended with the Glacier Pilots, but all that matters for Mat-Su in the championship series starting July 21. 

Dylan VanderVeen
2025 Mat-Su Miners Broadcaster