The Anchorage Bucs and Anchorage Glacier Pilots will play a summer-solstice baseball game Friday night at Mulcahy Stadium.
The first pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m.
A couple of hours later in Fairbanks, the Midnight Sun Classic — one of Alaska’s longest-running sports traditions — begins at 10 p.m. at Growden Park, where the Goldpanners will host the Seattle Studs. The game is traditionally played without the use of artificial lights and typically doesn’t end until after midnight.
The Bucs and Pilots will meet three times over the weekend, including Friday night’s game. On Sunday, they’ll play a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m.
On Saturday, the Pilots will play their version of a midnight sun game — a doubleheader with the Mat-Su Miners that begins at 8 p.m. The second game is tentatively scheduled to start at 10 p.m., and artificial lights are usually required.
A little more than two weeks into the two-month Alaska Baseball League season, the Bucs share the league lead with the defending champion Mat-Su Miners. Both clubs are 8-5.
The Pilots are third in the five-team league at 6-4, but they are 2-1 against the Bucs. The Bucs won this summer’s first meeting 6-1, but the Pilots won the next two games, 10-2 and 6-0.
The Miners have the league’s biggest offensive threat in Erik Webb, a junior from Central Missouri. He leads the ABL in RBIs (13), runs (12) and steals (8) and ranks second in batting average at .400 (12 of 30).
Camden Vasquez of the Peninsula Oilers, the ABL’s top hitter, is batting an impressive .422 with 19 hits in 45 at-bats.
Among pitchers, Zach Sundine of the Chugiak Chinooks and Robert Hamby of the Bucs are among the ABL’s best. Sundine has an league-high 24 strikeouts in 20 innings, and Hamby has a league-high three wins plus two saves.
For pitchers with at least 12 innings of work, Peninsula’s Drew Thorpe owns a league-leading ERA of 0.00.
ABL standings
Anchorage Bucs 8-5
Mat-Su Miners 8-5
Anchorage Glacier Pilots 6-4
Peninsula Oilers 5-8
Chugiak Chinooks 4-9
(The Fairbanks Goldpanners are not members of the ABL)
Friday’s games
Bucs at Pilots, 7:10 p.m., Mulcahy Stadium
Oilers at Miners, 7 p.m., Hermon Brothers Stadium
Saturday’s games
Miners at Pilots, 8 p.m., Mulcahy Stadium (doubleheader)
Oilers at Chinooks, 7 p.m., Loretta French Park
Sunday’s games
Pilots at Bucs, 2 p.m., Mulcahy Stadium (doubleheader)
Oilers at Chinooks, 2 p.m.
Monday’s games
Miners at Bucs, 7 p.m., Mulcahy Stadium
Oilers at Chinooks, 7 p.m., Loretta French Park
League leaders
Batting average
Camden Vasquez, Oilers, .422
Erik Webb, Miners, .400
Chad Castillo, Bucs, .341
Calvin Farris, Oilers, .321
Haden Keller, Chinooks, .319
RBIs
Erik Webb, Miners, 13
Brandon Cody, Chinooks, 11
Chad Castillo, Bucs, 10
Haden Keller, Chinooks, 10
Blake Paugh, Bucs, 9
Justin Kirby, Miners, 9
Runs
Erik Webb, Miners, 12
Haden Keller, Chinooks, 11
Camden Vasquez, Oilers, 10
Ethan English, Chinooks, 10
Steals
Erik Webb, Miners, 8
Daylen Calicdon, Pilots, 8
Jess Davis, Chinooks, 6
Strikeouts
Zach Sundine, Chinooks, 24
Hunter Rigsby, Pilots, 17
Randy Abshier, Miners, 16
George Arias, Miners, 15
Matthew Sanchez, Pilots, 15
Mason Wells, Bucs, 15
Evan Taylor, Bucs, 15
ERAs (minimum 12 innings pitched)
Drew Thorpe, Oilers, 0.00
Hunter Rigsby, Pilots, 0.64
Matthew Sanchez, Pilots, 1.23
Peyton Carson, Pilots, 1.50
Zach Sundine, Chinooks, 2.66