Miners Offense Capitalizes in Win over Oilers
June 25, 2016 - Alaska Baseball League (Alaska)
Mat-Su Miners News Release
Mat-Su Miners vs. the Peninsula Oilers
(Mat-Su Miners)
PALMER, Alaska - The Mat-Su Miners took advantage of six hits and four Peninsula Oilers errors to earn a 5-3 victory at Hermon Brothers Field on Friday.
The win moves the Miners (7-5) into a tie with the Oilers (5-3) for first place in the Alaska Baseball League standings.
"We needed to win tonight and play at a high level," Miners head coach Ben Taylor said. "It was good that it was against the team we are battling against for first place, but it was more about what we needed to get done."
The Oilers opened up the scoring in the top of the third, when designated hitter Seth DeWitt singled to centerfield with one out to score third baseman Alex Seifert.
Second baseman Levi Jordan answered for the Miners in the bottom half of the inning, driving a two-strike fastball into right field to score leftfielder Scooter Bynum and tie the game at 1-1. Designated hitter Michael Donadio followed with a single to left field to score Jordan and give the Miners a one-run advantage.
"We showed up with extreme toughness and came out here and grinded out that second win," Bynum said.
The Miners would plate three more runs in the fourth inning after loading the bases on a walk, an error and a single. An RBI groundout from third baseman A.J. Lee stretched the Mat-Su lead to two runs, and a single from centerfielder Brooks Stotler would score Bynum and catcher Tyler Wyatt to give the Miners a 5-3 advantage.
"We put a lot of balls into play, they were a little shaky defensively and we took advantage of a bunch of walks," Taylor said. "There's some guys on base tonight who might now have shown up in the hit column, but they took advantage of some miscues and opportunities."
Miners starting pitcher Justin Vernia continued his strong summer on the mound. The junior held the Oilers to two runs and eight hits in 5.1 innings of work to earn the win.
Oilers starting pitcher Justin Montgomery was tagged with the loss after allowing five runs and six walks in five innings of work.
Carlos Vega and Gage Burland combined for 2.1 innings of relief for the Miners. Vega allowed one earned run and two hits in 1.2 innings, while Burland held the Oilers scoreless in one inning on the mound.
Miners closer Jordan Floyd earned the save with a scoreless ninth inning.
Bynum led the Mat-Su offense, going 2-2 at the plate and scoring two runs. Stotler finished with 2 RBIs on his single in the fourth inning.
"We played really tough tonight and finally scratched that win out against the Oilers," Bynum said. "It's a great feeling and we want to stay there."
The Miners are scheduled to travel to Anchorage on Sunday to face the Bucs in a 2 p.m. matchup at Mulcahy Field.
Images from this story
 Mat-Su Miners vs. the Peninsula Oilers |
Alaska Baseball League Stories from June 25, 2016
- Miners Offense Capitalizes in Win over Oilers - Mat-Su Miners
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