Tim Montgomery hit for the cycle and swung the Fairbanks Goldpanners into first place in the Alaska Baseball League standings late Sunday, driving in five runs in Fairbanks' 6-3 win against the Peninsula Oilers at Growden Memorial Park in Fairbanks.
Montgomery's three-run home run in the eighth inning provided the winning margin for the Goldpanners, who improved to 20-11 in ABL play. Combined with the Anchorage Glacier Pilots' 9-1 loss to the Anchorage Bucs, the Panners moved 1/2 game ahead of the Pilots (20-12) in the ABL standings. The win was the seventh in a row for the Panners.
Montgomery, a right fielder from the University of Hawaii who was the Panners' No. 9 hitter, tripled in the second inning, doubled in the fourth, singled in the sixth and capped the cycle with his home run in the eighth. It was his second home run of the season. He finished 4 for 4 with five RBIs and a run scored.
Scott Robertson (2-1) picked up the win in relief for the Panners, working 12/3 innings and striking out two.
Chris Graziano had a pair of doubles and Preston Griffin added a pair of hits for the Oilers. The Oilers stranded 12 runners on base.
Miners dig deep to preserve 6-5 win
A late rally by Athletes in Action was nipped by the Mat-Su Miners on Sunday, giving the Miners a 6-5 win at Hermon Brothers Field in Palmer.
AIA rallied for three runs in the top of the ninth inning, but Mat-Su's Jake McConiga struck out Clark Baggett with the bases loaded for the final out of the game.
Five different Miners drove in runs, and six different Miners scored runs. Matt Ciaramella and Blake Gill each finished with two hits, and Jeff Grady added a pair of doubles and an RBI. McConiga drove in a pair of runs.
Chris Hanners (1-3) picked up the win in relief, working two innings and fanning two.
AIA's Jim Burt had three and drove in three runs.
