The Peninsula Oilers defeated the Anchorage Glacier Pilots 5-4 in 10 innings in Alaska Baseball League play Monday at Coral Seymour Memorial Park in Kenai.
The Oilers won their fifth game in a row and are now 14-3 at home this season. Peninsula plays its last two games of the year at Seymour Park on Tuesday and Wednesday against the Pilots at 6 p.m.
The Oilers are 21-17 in the league and will finish third, playing at the second-place team in the first round of the playoffs.
The Mat-Su Miners are currently in second place at 23-13, while the Anchorage Bucs are 1.5 games ahead at 24-11.
The Pilots and Chugiak-Eagle River Chinooks are fighting it out for the final playoff spot. Despite losing nine straight, the Pilots, at 13-25, are 1.5 games ahead of the 10-25 Chinooks.
The Oilers walked off the Pilots in the 10th inning on a sacrifice fly to center field by catcher Braden Smith that scored Cody New.
Smith said he was waiting for an outside fastball from Pilots reliever Evan Chadwick. When Smith got that pitch, he pounced, sending the ball into the gusting, cold wind that had buffeted the field all day.
“I did it for the fans, man,” Smith said. “They’re great. They come out here every day to support us. So I just had to give them a win today.”
Smith had quality at-bats all day, getting two walks and a hit, as well as scoring twice. He also threw out a runner trying to steal second base.
“I struggled a little bit at the start of the season, but I’m seeing the ball well,” he said.
The winning rally started when Cody New rolled a double down the right-field line. Brock Wirthgen walked and a Cole Wilson bunt sent runners to second and third.
“We tell the kids all the time the reason we score is because we’ve executed a bunt,” McCann said. “When we don’t execute the bunt, we usually don’t get the guy over, and we don’t score.”
The Pilots gave Eddie Leon an intentional walk to set up Smith’s sacrifice fly.
The Oilers had nearly won the game in the ninth. With one out, Zakary Farris cracked a fly ball to right field, but Pilots right fielder Jack Dorn made a perfect throw to catch Aidan Sullivan trying to tag up from third.
“It was a great throw, probably the best throw of his life,” Smith said. “We went out there, got three outs, then got the run we needed.”
The Pilots took a 4-1 lead in the top of the sixth. Oilers starter Nicholai Arbach gave up four runs — three earned — on five hits in six innings of work.
Nathan Hoffman made the comeback possible by throwing four shutout innings, giving up two hits and walking two.
Smith said neither pitcher had their best stuff, but added that both battled hard so the team could get the win.
“They gave us enough to keep us close,” McCann said of the pitchers. “Then we got the runs to get back in and win the game.”
In the sixth, New singled in Colin Robson to cut it to 4-2.
In the seventh, Smith led off with a walk and scored on a Sullivan double. Sullivan then scored on a Robson double.
Even though the Oilers are locked into their place in the standings, the team didn’t quit once it got down.
“That’s been the story of our season,” Smith said. “We’ve just been a gritty team. We just go out there and play our hardest, and most of the time it goes our way.”
For the Pilots, Drew Welk gave up a run in four innings, Owen Smith gave up a run in two innings and Chadwick gave up three runs in four innings.
Robson and New led the Oilers’ 11-hit attack with two hits apiece. Jacob Kowes was 2 for 3 for the Pilots, while Edison Polanco had three RBIs and Luke Heefner scored twice.
In other Oilers news, the team Saturday dedicated the broadcast booth at Seymour Park to Dan Gensel.
Gensel is the longtime voice of the Oilers who died in May 2023 at 66. Not only did he broadcast games, but he served on the Oilers board as well.
Dan and his wife, Kathy Gensel, also served as a host family for players and broadcasters. Kathy also served as housing coordinator, while the Gensels’ daughter, Andrea Frey, served as a trainer for the team.
Peninsula Oilers second baseman Eddie Leon gets ready to tag out Troy Sanders of the Anchorage Glacier Pilots on Monday, July 29, 2024, at Coral Seymour Memorial Park in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Peninsula Oilers catcher Braden Smith (23) gets congratulations from Cody New (26) on Monday, July 29, 2024, at Coral Seymour Memorial Park in Kenai, Alaska. Smith drove in New for the game-winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Peninsula Oilers’ Aidan Sullivan is tagged out by Anchorage Glacier Pilots catcher Rodrigo Barajas on Monday, July 29, 2024, at Coral Seymour Memorial Park in Kenai, Alaska. Sullivan was trying to score the winning run in the bottom of the ninth. Pilots pitcher Evan Chadwick celebrates in the background. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
