Alaska Baseball League

Standings

W L Pct. GB Overall

Goldpanners 30 13 .698 -- 34-13

Miners 29 14 .674 1 31-15

Oilers 29 15 .659 1.5 30-15-1

Bucs 17 26 .395 13 21-30-1

AIA 14 30 .318 16.5 18-30

Glacier Pilots 12 33 .267 19 15-35

SCHEDULE AND RESULTS

Today's Games

Bucs at AIA, 1 p.m.

Goldpanners at Miners (DH), 3 p.m.

Friday's Results

Miners 5, Goldpanners 2

Goldpanners 4, Miners 1

Bucs 6, Fire 4

Fire 4, Bucs 3

Thursday's Results

Glacier Pilots 4, Goldpanners 3

Miners 5, Oilers 4

Bucs 9, Fire 4

• Friday's doubleheader between the league's top two teams didn't alter the standings heading into today's season finales -- the Fairbanks Goldpanners still lead the Mat-Su Miners by one game, with two games left.

After Mat-Su seized a 5-2 win in seven innings in the first game at Hermon Brothers Field in Palmer, Fairbanks fired back with a 4-1 seven-inning win in the nightcap.

The teams close the regular season with two seven-inning games today, with the opener at Hermon Brothers set for 3 p.m. Fairbanks needs one win to clinch the title, and Mat-Su must win both games to repeat as champions.

Regardless of who wins the championship, both the Goldpanners and third-place Peninsula Oilers have booked trips to play in the National Baseball Congress World Series in Wichita, Kan., next week. Some ABL teams choose not to attend NBC no matter how much success they savor in the Alaska season -- going to Wichita is a money-losing proposition for Alaska teams because of travel expenses and hotel costs on the road.

Fairbanks' Martin Medina cranked a two-run home run, his team-leading sixth jack of the summer, to give the Goldpanners a 2-0 first-inning lead in the nightcap, and they never surrendered that advantage.

Austin Woolridge added an RBI double in the sixth and Derek Chang followed with an RBI single to plate pinch-runner Mike Tauchman. Zach Arneson allowed one run in 5 1/3 innings for the win, and Liam Baron pitched the final 1 2/3 innings for the save.

The Mat-Su Miners erupted for four fifth-inning runs in the opener to forge a temporary tie for first place.

Scott Sitz threw a complete game and allowed three hits to dispatch the Panners.

The Miners in the fifth used RBI singles by Nick DeBiasse, Pablo Bermudez and Matt Ozanne, and an RBI ground-out by Ryan Kaup to plate four runs. DeBiasse also singled in a run in the third. The Miners racked 12 hits.

• AIA left-hander Harrison Helms got Dominic Piazza to line out to shortstop with the bases loaded in the top of the seventh to secure a 4-3 win over the Anchorage Bucs and a split of the doubleheader at Growder Memorial Park in Fairbanks.

Helms' work made a winner out of right-hander Tyler Bersano, who went 8-0 for a team that is 18-30 overall. Bersano surrendered three runs and struck out seven in 5 2/3 innings.

Zach Vincej drove in three runs to help the Bucs deliver a 6-4 win in the opener.