WICHITA, Kan. -- With Sean Timmons on the mound and many other returning standouts in the lineup, it looked a little routine as the Fairbanks Goldpanners started defense of their NBC World Series title Tuesday with a 9-0 romp over the Oceanside Waves of California.
But the bright lights and big crowds -- both of fans and scouts -- aren't old hat for all of the Goldpanners.
Third baseman Emerson Frostad was playing his first NBC game. So four hits -- one of which came inches from leaving Lawrence-Dumont Stadium -- were a big deal to him.
Last season, Frostad played with Bellingham, Wash., in the Pacific International League. The Bells missed a trip to Wichita by one game.
"It was a great feeling to be a part of this after coming so close last year," Frostad said. "It was just a great night."
It certainly was, at least for the Panners. With temperatures soaring above 100 degrees, the Goldpanners bats took a cue from the weather -- six players combined for 13 hits and five players scored runs to support seven terrific innings from Timmons, the Alaska Baseball League's player of the year.
"You're always a little apprehensive about that first game," Fairbanks coach Ed Cheff said. "But I thought we hit some good pitches. It's one thing to score a bunch of runs. But I thought we did it against quality pitching, so that's something to feel good about."
Fairbanks (31-16) will play Chinese Taipei at 4:30 p.m. ADT Thursday. Taipei has beat San Luis Obispo (Calif.) 2-0 and Rock City (N.C.) 12-2 so far in the tournament.
The Panners wasted little time getting things started Tuesday thanks to the hitting of two ABL all-leaguers. Nick Blasi tripled off San Diego starter Dennis Leduc and scored on Jeff Culpepper's single in the first inning.
The Panners broke things open in the third. Blasi and Jose Rodriguez led off with bloop singles and two batters later, Culpepper doubled home Blasi. After Brad Davis was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Frostad popped out to the shortstop and Derek Bruce singled to right field, scoring Rodriguez. Tim Montgomery followed with a grounder through the infield's left side, which Oceanside left fielder Tyler Fernandes misplayed. Davis and Bruce scored for a 6-0 Fairbanks lead.
"We're a good offensive team," Cheff said, "but we've never had everybody going at the same time. There were a lot of guys hitting tonight, so maybe we can get that going."
The Panners chased Leduc in the fifth. Culpepper doubled to center field, and Davis was again hit by pitch. Frostad then smacked Leduc's final pitch off the wall in right field, scoring Culpepper.
"I thought it was out, which would have been incredible in my first game here," Frostad said. "But I'll take the run-scoring double."
Davis came in on Bruce's sacrifice fly, and Frostad scored on a wild pitch for a 9-0 advantage.
Meanwhile, Timmons, 28, did what he's done in seven seasons with the Panners. He allowed only two hits and one walk.
"My location was pretty good all night," Timmons said. "There wasn't a lot of pressure. I think all of us are just coming here to play our game. So I just wanted to hit my spots. It was nice to do that."
One of the newest Panners, All-ABL reliever Ricky Fairchild, who was picked up from the Anchorage Glacier Pilots, also looked good. He struck out two of the three batters he faced in the eighth.
"It was important to get him in there," Cheff said. "We really like our bullpen with him in there. I think we felt pretty prepared coming in here to make a run at winning it. This was a good start."
