For the third straight season, the Mat-Su Miners are on top of the Alaska baseball world after winning the Top of the World Series.
The Miners routed the Anchorage Bucs 7-1 Sunday in front of a big crowd at Hermon Brothers Field to sweep the Bucs in the best-of-three, season-ending series.
The Miners thrilled a crowd of 1,197 by jumping to a 5-0 lead in the first inning.
They did all of the damage with two outs with a rally that started with a Spencer Henson single. Austin Pinorini followed with a single to set the stage for a three-run homer by Nick Brooks.
Josh Hatcher and Danny Wright kept Mat-Su in business with consecutive singles – Hatcher scored on Wright's hit – and Tyler Bosetti made it 5-0 with an RBI triple.
That was more than enough cushion for Miners pitcher Josh Haley. He took the win with a seven-inning, six-strikeout effort that yielded only two hits.
Jake Vieth touched Haley for a solo home run in the fourth inning, but that's all the Bucs could muster. Mat-Su outslugged the Bucs 13-4, with Brooks and Bosetti each getting two hits.
Bucs pitcher Casey O'Sullivan gave up five runs on seven hits over two innings.
Mat-Su, which won the first game of the series 1-0, finished the ABL season with a 31-7 record. The Bucs finished 27-21.