A Mayor's Cup series that could accurately be called the Mayors' Cup series began Monday night at Mulcahy Stadium with Dan Sullivan throwing out the first pitch.
It will end Wednesday night, a few hours after Ethan Berkowitz is sworn in as Anchorage's new mayor.
The Anchorage Glacier Pilots, who are the home team for Wednesday's game, said Tuesday afternoon they invited Berkowitz to the finale but hadn't heard whether he'll be on hand to present the trophy to the winning team, as is the custom.
The Pilots took Game 1 with a 3-2 win over the Anchorage Bucs. Game 3 begins at 7 p.m. Wednesday, just a couple of hours after Berkowitz's inauguration.
The Pilots outslugged the Bucs 11-6, scoring twice in the second inning and once in the fifth.
Trailing 3-1 going into the ninth, the Bucs crafted a dramatic conclusion. They scored one run, had a runner thrown out at the plate and stranded two baserunners.
Matt Dennis gave up four hits in seven innings for the win. Kyle Watson ripped an RBI triple and Carson Crites added an RBI single in the Pilots' two-run second, and Kevin Viers hit a two-out single that drove in the pivotal run in the fifth inning.
In the top of the ninth, the Bucs had runners at second and third with no outs when Sam Brown came to bat. Brown singled to drive in one run, but Pilots right fielder Eugene Vasquez gunned down the other runner at home plate to preserve his team's lead.
One out later, Tatum McCarthy reached base on an error that moved Brown to second base, but both runners were stranded when Brodie Leftridge grounded out.
The victory gave the Pilots (8-10 overall, 7-9 ABL) a 4-2 record this summer in games against the Bucs (7-10, 5-8).
In other games Monday in the ABL, the Mat-Su Miners pounded out 18 hits to beat the Chugiak Chinooks 13-2, and the Peninsula Oilers took two from the Fairbanks Goldpanners, 3-2 and 9-0.
For the Miners, the win at Hermon Brothers Field in Palmer pushed their overall record to 13-4, by far the best in the six-team league. The Chinooks, who are 10-9 overall, are the only team over .500.
Vance Viscaine supplied four runs and four hits and Tanner Nishioka hit a two-run triple in the eighth and a two-run single in the seventh to spark the Miners.
Nine players had hits, six had RBIs and six scored runs for the Miners (11-4, 13-4). Chugiak (9-7, 10-9) managed four hits off three Mat-Su pitchers.
In Fairbanks, the Oilers improved to 6-5, 8-8 with the doubleheader sweep of the Goldpanners (2-7, 6-9).