The Anchorage Glacier Pilots defeated the Peninsula Oilers 13-3 in seven innings on Wednesday in Alaska Baseball League play in the home opener at Coral Seymour Memorial Park in Kenai.
The Oilers had a perfect, sunny day, a large crowd and an early lead in the game, but the Pilots took control and were able to end the game via the run rule.
The Mat-Su Miners lead the league with a 13-2 record, while the Pilots are next at 7-4. Then come the Anchorage Bucs at 5-9, the Oilers at 4-8 and the Chugiak-Eagle River Chinooks at 3-9.
The Oilers get another shot at the Pilots tonight at 6 p.m. at Seymour Park.
Peninsula went up 1-0 in the bottom of the first inning on singles by Shunsuke Sakaino and James Shimashita.
The Pilots then began pouring it on, leading 2-1 after two, 4-1 after three and 5-1 after four.
Knolton Clark took the loss for the Oilers, going 3 2-3 innings, giving up five runs — two earned — on three hits, while walking three and punching out seven.
Homer product Mose Hayes had a solid appearance in relief for the Oilers, going 2 1-3 innings and giving up a run on two hits while striking out four.
That run made it 6-1 in favor of the Pilots after the top of the sixth. In the bottom of the inning, it appeared the Oilers were crawling their way back into the game by cutting the gap to 6-3.
Will O’Neil took over on the hill for the Oilers and three errors led to seven unearned runs in the top of the seventh, which put the Pilots in position to enact the run rule.
Van Larson got the win as the Pilots improved to 4-0 against the Oilers this season.
James Shimashita of the Oilers dives under the tag of Anchorage Glacier Pilots first baseman Bryan Webb on Wednesday, June 22, 2022, at Coral Seymour Memorial Park in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
