Friday, July 21
A rash of 1st inning errors enabled the Oilers to defeat the Glacier Pilots on Friday, July 21. Played in balmy, cloudy and calm weather, the Pilots grabbed an early lead with a first inning solo home run by Garrison Berkely.
But the wheels came off of the right side of the Pilots’ infield in the bottom of the 1st when 2 errors by Will Carpenter at third base and one by shortstop Andrew Nykoluk brought in 2 Oilers runs. A mental error by Carpenter also allowed Oiler centerfielder Nick Costello to take third base when Carpenter failed to call time out and left his base unattended as Oiler runs poured across the plate.
The inning was polished off by catcher Josiah Chavez’ booming double to left-center, scoring a runner from first base.
The Pilots pecked away at the Oiler lead, off of starting pitcher Evan Langer with single runs in the 2nd and 3rd innings, bringing the score to 5-3.
There it remained when reliever William Grimm pitched 4 shut-out innings to get the win. Ty Thomas nailed down the save with two shut-out innings in the 8th and 9th frames.
The needed icing and insurance was provided in the 8th by first baseman Michael Rodda, who slammed a solo home run off of the scoreboard in left-center, bringing the final to 6-3.
The standings are not being kept up in the Pointstreak website, which the ABL relies upon for statistics, and which is causing considerable confusion. Neither of the Oiler wins, nor the Pilots losses from Thursday and Friday are currently posted. The Oilers are now just one game below .500 and even with both the Bucs and the Pilots in the all-important loss column. Below is how they ought to read as of Friday night, July 21:
TEAM W L PCT
Miners 17 14 .548
Bucs 19 16 .541
Pilots 17 16 .515
Oilers 15 16 .483
Chinooks 12 18 .400
Saturday, July 22
The Anchorage Glacier Pilots avenged their two previous losses to the Oilers, dishing out a drubbing against the Peninsula squad in a 14-7 slugfest. Starting pitcher Harrison Metz had a clean 1st inning but was promptly bombed in the 2nd by the Pilots, led by Andrew Lamb who provided a bases-loaded triple in the 7-run inning. In the 3rd inning, the Pilots were kept to just one run, but with no one out and runners on first and second, Sam Silversmith came in to relieve Harrison.
The fans were treated to a 2-pitch/3-out erasure of the runners as Silversmith first delivered a double-play: his first pitch found a ground ball to third baseman Theo Forshey that brought him to the bag for a force out, and he threw across the diamond for the double play, leaving a runner at second with two out. On the next pitch, a ground ball through the middle went into center field, but CF Nick Costello nailed the runner in a spectacular defensive play at the plate.
Trailing 8-0 the Oilers replied with two of their own in the 3rd, highlighted by a double from Ben Grupe and a triple by Ryson Ujimori.
The game progressed with neither team permitting routine innings. The Pilots put up 5 more in the 5th inning, only to find Grupe doubling again in the Oiler’s 5th for 2 more runs.
The Oilers put position players Owen McElfatrick and Nick Costello on the mound in innings 7-9 and they held the Pilots scoreless. The final out for the Pilots was produced by Mike Rodda at first base, diving to his left for a ground ball and tossing to Costello covering first in a close and perfectly executed 1B to P put out. Then, Costello delivered the final runs of the game with 2 outs in the 9th, blasting a booming double to right-center and scoring 2 runs, bringing the final to 14-7.
Sunday, July 23
The Glacier Pilots evened the series in the Oiler home stand, taking Sunday’s matinee 4-2. With a vastly depleted bull pen, having lost 5 pitchers, Oiler starter Mose Hayes bravely battled through over 100 pitches and a 3-run Pilots’ 3rd inning rally to keep the score close.
The Oilers came up with 2 runs in the 7th inning and left the tying runs in scoring position with 2 outs in the 9th. Mike Elko was at the plate with a 2-strike count when Ty Thomas was picked off of 2nd base by Pilots’ pitcher Max Martin to end the game unexpectedly.
The Oilers are now 15-18 but hold on to the final playoff position in the ABL standings, as the Bucs defeated the Chinooks 13-2.
The Oilers play the Pilots Monday at 6:00 pm. Pre-game show begins at 5:40 on ESPN 1140AM, 96.9FM and radiokenai.com with Bob Bird and Nick Sorrell.
