OILERS vs. BUCS
The Peninsula Oilers might have been able to bury the Anchorage Bucs in the Alaska Baseball League standings if it wasn't for Dustin Hood.
Hood, the Bucs' gritty second baseman, delivered his second big hit this week to help his team top the Peninsula Oilers 3-1 in 12 innings Wednesday night to stay within a half-game of the league leaders in the final week of the season.
Hood, who clubbed a three-run home run in a Sunday victory, looped a run-scoring single in the 12th inning Wednesday night to kick-start a two-run rally and propel the Bucs to a pivotal 3-1 victory over the first-place Peninsula Oilers in the first of a three-game series in Kenai.
The Bucs not only cashed in on RBI singles by Hood and Chais Fuller, they benefited from multiple errors -- one fielding and one throwing -- when the Oilers failed to cleanly field consecutive sacrifice bunts after Bryan Petersen had led off the 12th inning with an infield single.
Hood drove in the first run on an 0-2 pitch and Fuller added an insurance run with another single.
Wednesday's game wasn't a must-win situation for the Bucs, but it was close enough. They needed to win Wednesday to avoid having to sweep the final two games of the series tonight and Friday night.
Now the Bucs will need to win only one game, then beat Athletes in Action in Saturday's if-necessary make-up game to win the ABL pennant. The Bucs can win the ABL outright and avoid a game with AIA by sweeping the Oilers.
Peninsula, now nursing a half-game lead, can win the title by beating the Bucs twice in the next two days.
Oilers closer Taylor Bills got out of the 10th inning thanks to a 5-4-3 double play and pitched out of trouble in the ninth inning after getting Bucs RBI leader Robert Taylor to ground out with two on and two out. The Oilers intentionally walked Bryan Petersen, who is hitting .367 -- some 100 points higher than Taylor -- to face Taylor, who had two doubles on the night.
Peninsula pushed across the tying run with two outs in the eighth inning on Andy Preston's RBI single off dynamic Bucs closer Matt Gorgen. It was only the 14th hit Gorgen had allowed in 27 innings of work this season.
For most of the night, the game looked to belong to Bucs catcher Adam Zornes. Although he came into the game hitting just .157 in 15 games, Zornes delivered three hits and scored on an error for a 1-0 lead. In addition, Zornes threw out two Peninsula runners trying to steal second base.
Defense was the name of the game for the Bucs, who recorded two outs at home plate and three at second base to compliment starting pitcher Brad Kledzik's six shutout innings.
Outfielders Petersen and Dom Duggan each recorded assists. Petersen's threw out Jordan Opdyke at home trying to score from second on Matt Clark's single in the fourth inning, and Duggan nailed Jake Kahaulelio trying to extend a single into a double in the fifth inning.
Third baseman Taylor's throw home got a force out there.
The Bucs needed to play stingy defense with their offense struggling to score against Oilers starter Ryan Mottern. Zornes led off the second inning with a single and eventually scored after Peninsula second baseman Omar Padilla committed a two-out throwing error on Kevin Koski's ground ball.
Neither starting pitching figured in the decision, although both threw well enough to win.
Mottern allowed just one unearned run in six innings to lower his already ridiculous earned-run average to 0.50 from 0.60. And Kledzik looked nothing like a guy with a 4.15 earned-run average, wiggling out of a bases- loaded, no-out jam in the second inning and striking out seven.
Miners 2, AIA 0
Mat-Su Miners starter David Phelps pitched a two-hit gem to shut out Athletes in Action and highlight Mat-Su's final home game of the season at Hermon Brothers Field in Palmer.
Phelps struck out seven batters and didn't issue a walk. The Miners gave him early run support, scoring in the first and fourth innings. Brent Milleville drove in a run with a ground ball to spot Phelps a 1-0 lead and Paul Gran made it 2-0 on a sacrifice fly to score Donald Brown, who had tripled.
The Miners (23-16, 18-15) finished third in the ABL standings, while AIA (12-26, 10-24) was last out of six teams.
Goldpanners 8, Pilots 7
The Fairbanks Goldpanners scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the ninth inning Wednesday night to post an 8-7 victory over the Anchorage Glacier Pilots in the second game of an apparent doubleheader at Growden Park in Fairbanks.
The Goldpanners won the first game by forfeit because Pilots officials said they weren't aware of the game.
In the nightcap, the Goldpanners rallied from a 7-3 deficit. In the ninth, they tied the game when Beau Mills was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. The next batter, Joe Persichina, delivered a walk-off single.
ABL STANDINGS
ALASKA BASEBALL LEAGUE
W L Pct. GB Overall
Oilers 21 12 .636 -- 29-15
Bucs 20 12 .625 ½ 26-14
Miners 18 15 .545 3 23-16
Glacier Pilots 15 18 .455 6 22-19
Goldpanners 15 18 .455 6 20-21
Fire 10 24 .294 11 ½ 12-26
RESULTS AND SCHEDULE
Tuesday's Results
Anchorage Glacier Pilots 7, Fairbanks Panners 6
Athletes in Action at Anchorage Bucs, ppd. rain
Wednesday's Results
Anchorage Bucs 3, Peninsula Oilers 1
Mat-Su Miners 2, Athletes in Action 0
Fairbanks Goldpanners 7, Glacier Pilots 0, forfeit
Fairbanks Panners 8, Anchorage Glacier Pilots 7
Today's Games
Anchorage Bucs at Peninsula Oilers, 6 p.m.
Anchorage Glacier Pilots at Fairbanks Panners, 6 p.m.
