Photo courtesy Mark Lindberg
Mikey Bell tips his cap to the crowd after a go-ahead home run during the 2024 Midnight Sun Game
The Goldpanners (10-4-2) found themselves up against a familiar foe in the semifinals of the Grand Forks International Baseball Tournament, as they took on the Seattle Studs for the fifth time this season with a spot in the championship game on the line. The Goldpanners fell in a 4-2 loss, ending their tournament run.
A rainy day in Grand Forks, British Columbia, delayed the game for a few hours before the teams took the field later in the evening. The Goldpanner lineup entered the day having four-straight contests of 10-plus runs scored but was kept in check this time around as Seattle’s starter Logan Tyler proved tough to figure out for Alaska.
Tyler went five innings, allowing three hits and no earned runs with three strikeouts to two walks. The Seattle offense produced three runs of support, coming in the third and fourth innings to take advantage of the strong pitching effort. A single and hit by pitch drove in a pair in the third before another came across in the fourth. Now down 3-0, the Goldpanners looked to rally back. They had a good opportunity to do so in the bottom of the fifth with two runners on and nobody out.
However, a timely double play helped Tyler escape the damage in his final inning of work. Seattle turned pitching duties over to PJ Moritz in the sixth, where the Goldpanners finally cracked the scoreboard.
A Mikey Bell single drove in Matt Leiterman from second base to shrink the deficit. After a scoreless eighth, the Studs tacked on another run to make it 4-1 before it all came down to the bottom of the ninth for the ‘Panners.
Griffin Harrison came up with a two-out RBI single to bring the deficit back to two runs with the tying run coming to the plate in the form of Rocco Caballero, who popped out to center field to end the game with a 4-2 defeat.
As a team, the Goldpanners only collected six hits in the loss for two runs. Matt Chavez collected a pair of those in his 2-3 performance. Jacob Badawi (1-4), Leiterman (1-4), Bell (1-4) and Harrison (1-4) provided the only other hits for the team.
On the mound, Dane Grant started for Alaska. He went 2.1 innings with two hits and one earned run allowed with one strikeout and one walk. He was followed in relief by Paxton Fenberg, Noah Smith and Wade Lawson. The pitching staff combined for three earned runs and seven hits allowed. Smith led all pitchers in the contest with five strikeouts in his 3.1 innings of work.
Following the loss, the Goldpanners record fell to 10-5-2 on the year. Their next contest comes at home on July 4 against the Ventura County Pirates at 2 p.m.
