Anchorage Bucs halt Miners’ 11-game win streak in battle of ABL powerhouses

PALMER — The Anchorage Bucs have been the cream of the Alaska Baseball League for the entire season. But the Mat-Su Miners had run off 11 straight wins, bringing them within a game and a half of the Bucs in the standings heading into Tuesday night’s duel between the two teams at Hermon Brothers Field.

Fueled by a six-run explosion in the fourth inning, the Bucs topped the Miners 10-3 to main control of the top spot in the ABL with just days remaining in the regular season.

The Bucs (25-11) and Miners (23-14) face off once more this season with another game scheduled Thursday.

“Every time we play them, it’s always a good game,” Bucs DH Cole Carlon said. “It’s always close, so we wanted to play our game and just be aggressive and go right at them, and things went our way today.”

Things went especially well for Carlon, who was a terror at the plate. The lanky lefty went 3-for-5 with a home run, a double, a pair of RBIs and three runs scored.

He was also in the midst of the Bucs’ biggest inning. He singled and drove in teammate Max Ross to put the Bucs up 3-0. The next batter, Andrew Lamb, drove in two on a double as the Bucs opened up a 7-0 lead by the time the fourth inning ended.

Despite the loss and a Peninsula Oilers team charging up the standings, the Miners and Bucs still appear on course to snare the top two seeds in the Top of the World Series.

Carlon said the game was productive because the Bucs not only got the win, but faced four different Miners pitchers.

“We saw a lot of their other pitchers that we haven’t really seen recently,” he said. “So we got to see more of their staff and what they have. They’re gonna keep coming back and come after us. It’s been like that all season.”

The Miners’ 11-game win streak included three consecutive against the Bucs. Miners general manager Pete Christopher said that in his 22 years in the ABL, he doesn’t remember a team going on that long of a streak. He said the team’s string of victories coincided with their purchase of a pitching machine, a Junior Hack Attack.

“I don’t know if the machine has something to do with it,” Christopher said. “We were the worst hitting team in the league, but they’ve been more aggressive swinging the bats. That’s made a big difference. They’re not looking at as many pitches.”

The Miners clawed back with three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning but couldn’t cut into the deficit any further in Tuesday’s loss.

[Introducing the 49th State All-Stars: Here’s a collection of the best baseball players to set foot in Alaska]

Both the Bucs and Miners have had players leave before the end of the season, changing what the rosters look like down the stretch. Most notable for the Miners was the departure of pitcher Jack Hostetler, who had posted a minuscule 1.41 ERA in six starts for Mat-Su. Christopher said the Milwaukee Brewers had signed Hostetler as a non-drafted free agent, hastening his departure from the ABL.

Despite the streak-breaking loss, Miners center fielder Drake Kerr said the streak changed the complexion of the season.

“I think a lot of people will look down and say, ‘Man, like we just lost the game,’ but we also just won 11 in a row, and that’s really hard to do in baseball,” he said. “It all just comes down to how much we love each other in this locker room, and we’re here for each other and not for ourselves.”

The Miners and Bucs play Thursday at 6 p.m. at Hermon Brothers Field.