The Peninsula Oilers were swept by the Mat-Su Miners in the Top of the World Series semifinals, losing 6-1 on Sunday at Hermon Brothers Field in Palmer.
The Oilers went 16-3 at home in their 50th anniversary season on the way to a 23-17 record in the Alaska Baseball League regular season.
Peninsula, which was the third seed in the playoffs, continued to have trouble on the road against the No. 2 Miners.
The Oilers went 4-1 against Mat-Su at Coral Seymour Memorial Park in Kenai, and 0-7 against the Miners at Hermon Brothers, including the two-game sweep.
“We went 16-3 at home and that was pretty good,” Oilers head coach Larry McCann said after completing his fourth season at the helm. “That keeps the fans happy when we play well at home, and that’s a good thing. That’s one of the most successful homestands, definitely, that I’ve had.
“We just couldn’t get it in gear on the road, and that kind of killed us.”
McCann said Oilers starter Cameron Teper had a string of successful starts since being moved to the starting rotation, but the Miners got right after Teper on Sunday.
Mat-Su, which was the visiting team on the scoreboard, started the game with three straight singles and grabbed a 3-0 lead after the top of the first.
Chase Wilcox, Ryker Schow and Kyle McCausland each had two hits from the top three spots in the Miners order. Dom Patrizi and Ryan Cochran added two hits.
“Their top three guys led the way for them,” McCann said. “The rest of the guys, we had pretty good success with them, like we did all year.
“But those top three guys kind of killed us.”
Miners starter Hayden Hattenbach gave the Oilers some chances by walking four and allowing two hits in four innings, but Hattenbach also struck out six in keeping the Oilers off the board.
“He had his strikeouts, but he was walking guys,” McCann said. “He was wild. We had the opportunity to get back in it with a base hit here, or putting the ball in play there.”
Teper was chased after 3 1-3 innings, allowing six runs — four earned — on eight hits.
Down 6-0 after four innings, McCann began a parade of relievers designed to get everybody in the last game of the season.
Mose Hayes, a product of Homer High School and the Post 20 Twins, made what is likely his last appearance in an Oilers uniform. Hayes played for the team for four years.
He went 1 2-3 scoreless innings, giving up two hits.
For there, no Oilers pitchers gave up a hit or run. Colby Reynolds and Nicholai Arbach worked an inning, Seth Wrightstone and Zach Camp got two outs, and Aaron Morris and Emerson Fleck each got an out.
Only Max Sasaki and Aidan Sullivan didn’t play — Sasaki because he was being saved for a start in case the Oilers came back to win, Sullivan because of an injury.
“We had plenty of pitching,” McCann said. “It just didn’t work out the way I planned.”
Peninsula scored its lone run in the seventh, when Zakary Farris grounded out to score Petey Soto.
Luke Smith kept the Oilers off the board for two innings, while Ryan Harrahill gave up an unearned run in three innings.
Colin Robson led the Oilers six-hit attack with two hits.
The team did get one final feel-good moment in the ninth inning.
Andrew Pieh and Gabe Smith joined the Oilers after the Post 20 Twins finished their season.
McCann gave both a chance to bat in the bottom of the ninth. Pieh struck out, but Smith, a regular at Oilers games this season, poked a single to center field as the Oilers dugout went nuts.
The next batter, Robson, then struck out to end the season.
McCann said it was great to see young talent from the area like Pieh, Smith and Colby Sturman — who made two appearances with the Anchorage Glacier Pilots — get to play in the Alaska Baseball League.
Oilers right-hander Mose Hayes fires a pitch during a 6-1 loss to the Mat-Su Miners on Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, at Hermon Brothers Field in Palmer, Alaska. (Photo by Jeremiah Bartz/Frontiersman)
