Alaska Baseball

On deck in the Alaska Baseball League: Fireworks and a visit from the Fairbanks Goldpanners

Fireworks, Fairbanks and feasible prospects for a pennant race will help usher in the second half of the Alaska Baseball League season.

First, the fireworks: Sunday brings the annual Fourth of July doubleheader between the Anchorage Bucs and Anchorage Glacier Pilots at Mulcahy Stadium, with the first pitch at 7 p.m. and the fireworks at midnight.

[Here are the big Fourth of July celebrations this weekend in Southcentral Alaska]

Then, a couple of days later, come the Fairbanks Goldpanners for their only games this season in Anchorage, Palmer and Chugiak.

The Goldpanners — a founding member of the ABL who went off on their own in 2015 — will play the Chugiak Chinooks on Tuesday, the Mat-Su Miners on Wednesday and the Pilots on Thursday.

The Miners lead the league with a 14-7 record that includes a 9-2 mark in their last 11 games.

They went into a Saturday game against the second-place Bucs with a three-game lead, but left with a 4-2 loss that cut their lead to two games — and set the stage for a potential race for the ABL title.

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Lurking behind the Bucs (11-8) are Chugiak (10-10 before a Saturday night game against the Peninsula Oilers) and the Pilots (10-11). The Oilers lag behind at 5-14.

The Bucs won for the eighth time in 11 games Saturday behind a three-run homer from Jake Skipworth and a solid six innings from Diego Barrera.

Skipworth, an infielder from Cal, homered for the first time this season with no outs in the first inning to give Barrera all the cushion he needed.

A lefthander from Loyola Marymount, Barrera retired the first 10 batters he faced in a six-inning outing. He struck out seven, gave up two hits and walked one while improving to 2-1.

In 27 innings for the Bucs, Barrera has struck out 31 and walked six. The 31 strikeouts are the third-most this season, behind Mat-Su’s Will Johnston (37 in 26.2 innings) and the Bucs’ JoJo Ingrassia (34 in 21.1 innings).

The most head-turning stat at the halfway point is Pilots pitcher Easton Sikorski’s 0.39 earned-run average. A righthander from Western Michigan, he has allowed one earned run in 22.2 innings and is 2-0 in four appearances. He’s given up 14 hits, struck out 22 and walked six.

Among hitters, Pilots infielder Ethan Mann of New Mexico State leads the ABL in RBIs (13), ranks second in batting average (.362) and steals (8) and is tied for third in runs scored (11).

Alaska Baseball League

(Standings through Friday’s games)

Mat-Su Miners 14-6

Anchorage Bucs 10-8

Chugiak Chinooks 10-10

Anchorage Glacier Pilots 10-11

Peninsula Oilers 5-14

Saturday’s games

Bucs 4, Miners 2

Oilers at Miners, late

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Sunday’s games

Oilers at Miners, 4 p.m., Hermon Brothers Field

Bucs vs. Pilots (doubleheader), 7 p.m., Mulcahy Stadium

Monday’s games

Oilers at Pilots, 7 p.m., Mulcahy Stadium

Bucs at Chinooks, 7 p.m., Lee Jordan Field

Tuesday’s games

Oilers at Bucs, 7 p.m, Mulcahy Stadium

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Goldpanners at Chinooks, 7 p.m, Lee Jordan Field

Pilots at Miners, 7 p.m., Hermon Brothers Field

Wednesday’s games

Bucs at Pilots, 7 p.m., Mulcahy Stadium

Oilers at Chinooks, 7 p.m., Lee Jordan Field

Goldpanners at Miners, 7 p.m., Hermon Brothers Field

Thursday’s games

Goldpanners at Pilots, 7 p.m., Mulcahy Stadium

Oilers at Miners, 7 p.m., Hermon Brothers Field

Statistical leaders (through Friday games)

Batting average

Ernie Yake, Bucs, .378

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Ethan Mann, Pilots, .362

Nick Cirelli, Miners, .350

Tom Tabak, Pilots, .344

John Marc Mullins, Chinooks, .333

RBIs

Ethan Mann, Pilots, 13

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Nick Cirelli, Miners, 11

Cole Escher, Pilots, 11

Ernie Yake, Bucs, 11

Runs

Cole Escher, Pilots, 13

Garrett Ostrander, Bucs, 13

Ethan Mann, Pilots, 11

Diego Baqueiro, Bucs, 11

Casey Rother, Miners, 11

Steals

Blake Winn, Pilots, 10

Ethan Mann, Pilots, 8

John Marc Mullins, Chinooks, 7

Michael McNamara, Pilots, 7

Tom Tabak, Pilots, 7

Earned run average

Easton Sikorski, Pilots, 0.39

William Kempner, Bucs, 1.13

Honus Kindreich, Chinooks, 1.23

Ricky Tibbett, Pilots, 1.40

Nate Diamond, Pilots, 1.93

Strikeouts

Will Johnston, Miners, 37

JoJo Ingrassia, Bucs, 34

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