PILOTS vs. BUCS
ARM FOR HIRE: Pitcher trades his AABL jersey in for a short stint with Pilots.
Joe Bell's baseball cap doesn't look like his teammates'.
No scuffs, pine resin or infield dirt mars the blue and white of the Anchorage Glacier Pilots logo. He hasn't even broken in the bill yet.
"It's perfectly clean -- I haven't even written my number on it," said the 26-year-old relief pitcher. "It's only the second time I've worn it."
If his cap is clean, his stuff is dirty.
The righthander pitched 2 1/3 innings of one-run relief Saturday, bridging the gap between starter Levi Laughlin and closer Travis Hill, anchoring the Pilots to 6-3 win against the Anchorage Bucs and a 1-0 advantage in the best-of-3 Mayor's Cup series at Mulcahy Stadium.
Bell isn't from a big, Division I school.
He hasn't been putting up gaudy numbers all season in the Alaska Baseball League
He's not even on the Pilots printed roster.
While his teammates are from from schools like Pepperdine, Arkansas and Notre Dame. Bell's team is the Phillies.
Of the Anchorage Adult Baseball League.
He's been with the Pilots for a whopping week, added to the roster for the July 23 game against the Athletes in Action Fire.
His line Saturday was one earned run, two hits, three strikeouts and zero walks. More importantly, he staunched a Bucs rally that had turned a 4-0 Pilot lead into a 4-3 thriller.
"He's been a godsend for us," said Pilots manager Chris Jones. "We are short on pitchers."
The situation was so desperate that Pilots public relations director Jon Dyson called up Jones and told him Bell was available.
"He's knows I play baseball and they needed an arm," Bell said.
They got a good one.
"He's not just an arm," Jones said. "He's good. And he doesn't get frazzled."
The owner of the Anchorage bar Joey's, Bell relies on a two-seam fastball that slides off the plate and a slider that breaks down and away from righthanded hitters. It was good enough Saturday to fan the Bucs three, five and six hitters.
"My ball just moves," Bell said. "I can't throw a straight ball.
"I feel great, like I'm at the top of my game. I wish this was the case three or four years ago."
That's when Bell pitched for Iowa St. after two years at the University of Hawaii. Since then he's worked one-on-one as a pitching instructor and helped out with the Alaska Baseball Academy.
The arm-for-hire status isn't new for Bell. He threw for the Pilots in 2000 and was a late-season acquisition for the defending ABL champion Fairbanks Goldpanners last summer.
"I lived the dream," Bell said. "I love it. In Alaska, there's nothing better than playing in the ABL."
The Pilots needed him Saturday to perserve the lead after a three-run first inning, which was a disaster for the Bucs.
The Pilots' Lucas Waters tripled on the second pitch of the game into the left centerfield gap and then scored on a wild throw by Bucs second baseman Rylan Sandoval. After a perfect bunt base hit by Matt McGraw, Bucs catcher Kyle Henson threw a ball into centerfield trying to prevent a double steal and another run scored. John Allman grounded out for the third run.
The Bucs had just come off a heart-breaking 1-0 loss the previous night to the Peninsula Oilers that cost them their last chance to win the league title.
"It was very emotional," Bucs manager Mike Garcia said before the game.
Still, Garcia would be the last person to make excuses for the Bucs performance. He said the team was pleased to reach even second place, especially after losing 10 players total and four starters from the start of the season to injuries, suspensions, and Team USA.
"The roster turned halfway over, we lost our entire rotation," Garcia said. "We're staying positive. That was my big rule when we won three titles in a row here (from 1989-91)."
That spirit showed in the later innings when Brian Peterson's sacrifice fly, Dustin Hood's RBI single and Kevin Koski's steal of home brought the score to 4-3.
But Bell's pitching and Ben Lasater's resounding RBI double sealed the game for Hill who induced a double play in the ninth.
It also put the Bucs stranglehold on the Mayor's Cup in jeopardy.
The Bucs have won the Cup the last three years and six of the last eight. But the winner of the first game of the series has won 14 of the 16 Mayor's Cups. And Garcia, despite his success in the ABL, has never won one.
Still, the Bucs are 5-3 against the Pilots this season and ready to end the season on a winning note, Bucs catcher Adam Zornes said.
"The attitude is we want to stick it to the Pilots," Zornes said. "We know we can beat these guys and keep the Mayor's cup in the Bucs clubhouse."
That was before Bell showed up. And he said he will be ready to pitch again Monday.
Just in time for Game 3.
Daily News reporter Brian Singler can be reached at bsingler@adn.com.
Miners 5, Goldpanners 3
The Mat-Su Miners used a strong effort by starting pitcher David Gruener and shoddy defense by the Fairbanks Goldpanners to take a victory Saturday night in the final game of the season for both Alaska Baseball League teams.
Gruener surrendered three first- inning runs at Hermon Brothers Field in Palmer, but then settled down to pitch five scoreless innings. He received the win after the Miners scored three unearned runs in the fifth inning -- the Panners racked up three errors in the inning -- and another unearned run in the sixth inning to take a 4-3 lead.
Mat-Su's Brian Chrisman pitched a scoreless eighth inning and Craig Benningson closed out Fairbanks in the ninth to earn the save.
The Miners finished 25-16 overall and 20-15 in league to take third place in the six-team ABL. The Panners finished 21-22 overall and 16-19 in league for fourth place.
ABL STANDINGS
ALASKA BASEBALL LEAGUE
W L Pct. GB Overall
Oilers 23 12 .657 -- 31-15
Bucs 20 14 .588 2 ½ 26-17
Miners 20 15 .571 3 25-16
Goldpanners 16 19 .457 7 21-22
Glacier Pilots 15 20 .429 8 23-20
Fire 10 24 .294 12 ½ 12-26
RESULTS AND SCHEDULE
Friday's Results
Peninsula Oilers 1, Anchorage Bucs 0
Mat-Su Miners 5, Anchorage Glacier Pilots 0
Saturday's results
Mat-Su Miners 5, Fairbanks Goldpanners 3
Anchorage Glacier Pilots 6, Anchorage Bucs 3
Today's Game
Mayor's Cup Game 2 -- Bucs at Glacier Pilots, 7 p.m.
