Fans who stayed late were treated to an eventful 14th inning Wednesday night at Mulcahy Stadium, where a brouhaha between coaches proceeded a six-run outburst that lifted the Peninsula Oilers to a 9-3 Alaska Baseball League victory over the Anchorage Bucs.
With the game tied 3-3, Bucs manager Mike Grahovac and Oilers manager Kevin Griffin went at each other in a brawl captured in a video posted online by KTUU. Players from both teams swarmed to the scene of the dustup, which started in foul territory between third base and the Bucs' clubhouse.
Once play resumed, the Oilers (13-11 overall, 11-8 ABL) took control. They used four hits and three run-scoring errors to break open the game, tallying the go-ahead run on an error by pitcher Reagan Bazar.
The inning's big hit -- not counting those coming from Grahovac, who coaches at California's Concordia University, and Griffin, who coaches at Texas A&M International -- came from Peninsula's Jimmy Galusky.
With one out and the bases loaded, Galusky stroked a double to drive in two runs, with a third run scoring on an error by center fielder Zane Gurwitz to build the Oilers' lead to 7-3. Galusky scored on a single by Blake Wilfong, who scored on an error by left fielder Dylan Butler.
The Bucs (10-16, 7-11) went quietly in their half of the inning. Peninsula reliever Jordan Kron, who tossed two hitless innings, got the final two outs on strikeouts. The game lasted three hours and 41 minutes.
In other action Wednesday in the ABL, the Mat-Su Miners became the first 20-win team of the summer by outlasting the Anchorage Glacier Pilots 5-4 in Palmer, and the Chugiak Chinooks spanked the Fairbanks Goldpanners 11-6 in Chugiak.
The Miners survived an Anchorage rally in the top of the ninth inning at Hermon Brothers Field. With two out, Kevin Viers doubled to drive in two runs, but Mat-Su reliever Trent Thompson struck out Eugene Vazquez to strand Viers and earn the save.
The Miners (20-5, 18-5) scored twice in the fourth inning and three times in the seventh to take an early lead over the Pilots (12-15, 8-13). Tanner Nishioka was involved in both of Mat-Su's fourth-inning runs -- he singled to drive in the first one and stole home for the second.
In Chugiak, the Chinooks (13-14, 12-12) racked up nine runs in the seventh to swamp the Goldpanners (9-14, 5-12).
Jacob Brobst and Andrew Mogg each furnished two-run singles in the big inning, which also featured a pair of two-run, bases-loaded errors by the Goldpanners.