The Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks defeated the Peninsula Oilers 6-5 on Wednesday at Growden Memorial Park in Fairbanks in nonleague play.
The game was scheduled for seven innings and the Panners (1-0-1 overall) trailed the Oilers (0-1-1) 5-2 entering the bottom of the seventh but rallied for the victory.
Sean Rimmer started the rally with a double off of Oilers reliever Shane Carey. After a strikeout, Caleb Millikan put runners on first and third with a single, then a walk to Griffin Harrison loaded the bases.
A grounder by Issac Schuck forced out Harrison at second, but Millikan moved to third and Rimmer scored for a 5-3 game.
The Oilers then turned to Homer product Mose Hayes, who was greeted by a triple by Tate Shimao that tied the game. Dominic Hughes then ended the game with a walkoff single to tag Hayes with the loss.
Carey ended up going 1 2-3 innings, giving up four runs — three earned — on two hits while walking two and striking out one.
The Oilers had jumped on top with three runs in the top of the second inning.
With one away, James Shimashita started the rally by getting hit by a pitch. Casey Burnham then put runners on second and third when he reached on an error.
Noah Hennings then singled to score Shimashita and move Burnham to third. Hennings stole second, which loomed large when Jerry Nix singled to score Burnham and Hennings.
In the top of the fifth, the Oilers increased the lead to 4-0. Trey Becker started the inning with a walk, then eventually scored on a grounder.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Rimmer cut the lead to 5-1 with a home run.
The Panners continued to cut into the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning when Shimao scored unearned for a 4-2 lead.
The Oilers were able to extend the lead to 5-2 in the top of the seventh when Becker started the inning with a walk and scored on a fielder’s choice by Shimashita.
Max Miller had gotten the start for the Oilers, going two scoreless and hitless innings while walking four and striking out three. Thomas Ringer then worked three innings for Peninsula, giving up a run on two hits while walking one and striking out three.
