Anchorage Glacier Pilots best Bucs in last meeting ahead of Mayor’s Cup

Heading into their latest clash of the 2023 Alaska Baseball League season with their intown rivals on Monday night, the Anchorage Bucs were the hottest team in the league. The Bucs had posted the best record in the league, having won 13 of their last 18 games.

However, the only team that has been able to consistently cool them off this summer has been the two-time reigning Top of the World series champion Anchorage Glacier Pilots. The Pilots notched a sixth win over the Bucs this season Monday in a 9-4 victory where their bats got hot late in the game and helped them pull away.

“I feel like we’re just putting good at-bats together, said Pilots infielder Joey Wright, who will be a sophomore at UC Davis in the fall. “Our pitching staff, especially Max Martin, is doing very well throwing strikes and getting the defense work.”

Wright played a significant role in breaking the stalemate between the two teams when he blasted a ball to left field that hit the top of the wall and bounced over it for a three-run homer that stretched their one-run lead to 7-3 in the bottom of the sixth.

“I knew I got all of it, but I hit it too high and didn’t know if it had the distance,” Wright said. “When I saw it go over the the fence, I was hyped.”

It was his first home run of the season, which meant his first time getting to take part in the moose head tradition where players that homer get the head of the team mascot costume placed on their head when they reach home plate before returning to the dugout.

[When the Anchorage Glacier Pilots hit a home run, the moose head comes out]

The Pilots increased their lead again before the inning was over when rising junior outfielder Elijah Rodriguez of McLennan Community College scored his third run of the night after advancing from third base on an RBI from junior infielder Will Bermudez of UC Irvine.

The game was back and forth through the first five innings with both teams scoring a pair of runs in the first followed by two scoreless innings before the Bucs took a one-run lead in the top of the fourth only to have the Glacier Pilots tie it back up in the bottom of the fifth.

Wright also credited his two pitchers for their contributions to the victory, especially sophomore Ethan Ocuguera of Lamar University who threw the last five innings and only gave up one run.

The Bucs fourth and final run came in the top of the ninth although the bases were loaded with two outs on the board as they tried to cling to hopes of pulling off a late rally.

These two teams will be back in action against each other at Mulcahy Stadium later this week for the three-game series starting Friday night and running through Sunday afternoon.

This summer marks Wright’s first in Alaska even though he has an uncle that lives in Anchorage. He thought it was going to be sunnier more often but has still thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

“My coaches pretty much forced me to come here, but I’m glad I came,” he said. “We go on some hikes and just explore Alaska.”