Pilots head to championship as Oilers force game 3

by Lauren Petri

August 2nd

The Anchorage Glacier Pilots knocked out the Anchorage Bucs in two games, well… The Bucs may have knocked themselves out. Although the Bucs out hit the Pilots 7 to 5, a mixture of five walks and five errors allowed by the Bucs put the Pilots up by five two-thirds into the game. Pilots’ starter Aaron Ceniceros pitched seven and one-third innings, striking out seven, walking three, and allowed four runs on six hits. Ceniceros totaled 131 pitches on 31 batters. (insane) As we say goodbye to the Bucs, it is important to note that offensively, Logan Hokuf may have had his best game yet, sparking the Bucs three-run inning in the third. Lex Boedicker went 3 for 4 and Jaxon Sorenson had a scorching 2-out 2-RBI double. As for Bucs pitching, hometown kids Oliver Brown and Isaac Johnson closed out the game strong, pitching three and two-thirds innings of no-hit baseball, striking out five. A fantastically up and down season, and we wish the players nothing but the best in the rest of their careers. The Pilots now wait to see who they will be facing on Friday. In the regular season, the Pilots are 4-6 against the Miners, and 5-5 against the Oilers.

The Peninsula Oilers eked out a win against the Mat Su Miners to force a game three for the championship. Alex Vergara got the Miners on the board first in the third inning with a three run homerun. The Oilers answered immediately as Nick Costello walked in their first run, and a sacrifice fly by Leighton Helfrick cut the lead to one. A sacrifice fly by Cole Nachreilner in the fourth tied the game. The Oilers took the lead in the sixth as Helfrick brought in two more runs on a single. The Miners had bases loaded in the eighth, but only managed to get one run on a sacrifice fly by Kaden Carpenter. Both teams have their aces in Drew Christo and Ty Correa that haven’t pitched yet in this series, and with the championship series on the line, it’s possible that we see them tomorrow. All I can say for sure, is that you won’t want to miss a second of tomorrow’s game, it’s going to be intense.

Final Scores:

Anchorage Glacier Pilots 8, Anchorage Bucs 4

Peninsula Oilers 5, Mat Su Miners 4