WEDNESDAY IN THE ABL
TOP OF THE WORLD SERIES (BEST OF 3)
4 p.m. — Fairbanks Goldpanners vs. Mat-Su Miners, Mulcahy Stadium
6 p.m. — Fairbanks Goldpanners vs. Mat-Su Miners, Mulcahy, if necessary
AROUND THE HORN
PANNERS THROTTLE MINERS
In Tuesday night's opener of the best-of-3 Top of the World Series for the championship of the Alaska Baseball League, the Fairbanks Goldpanners left the Mat-Su Miners feeling as if they had been crushed by the weight of the world at Mulcahy Stadium.
Fairbanks 14, Mat-Su 0.
The Panners mauled Miners left-hander Tyler Stubblefield, who led the league in regular-season, earned-run average (1.05) and limited them to four hits over seven innings in a 1-0 victory on July 22. Fairbanks strafed Stubblefield for nine hits and seven runs (five earned), and chased him in its seven-run third inning.
Van Bozoian went 2 for 5 for the Panners and drove in three runs. Cody Nulph, who went 4 for 5, and Scott Hurst each drove in two runs, and each of Fairbanks' nine batters furnished at least one hit. The Panners banged out 21 hits.
Fairbanks right-hander Mike Benson scattered six hits in six innings before giving way to right-hander Chasen Ford, who surrendered just one hit in three innings.
LEAGUE LEADERS
The Goldpanners cleaned up when it came to leading statistical categories in the ABL.
Hurst led the league in average (.429) and compiled a ridiculous on-base percentage (.555). Panners hitters Nulph, Jacob Hayes and Bozoian all tied Clayton Taylor of the Anchorage Glacier Pilots for the home run lead with nine, and Hayes delivered a league-leading 42 RBIs.
Goldpanners left-hander Jace Puckett (6-0) led the league in wins.
Mat-Su's Stubblefield won the earned-run average crown (1.05). He went 5-0 with one shutout, struck out 45 batters and walked just nine in 42-plus innings. Only once in six regular-season starts did Stubblefield yield two earned runs.
Alaska Dispatch Publishing