Peninsula Oilers head coach Brian Daly predicted a plethora of wins this summer, and the prognosis is right on track after one day.
Dom Bazzani and Yi-Hsin Huang combined to pitch a one-hitter against the Mat-Su Miners on Wednesday evening at Coral Seymour Memorial park and escaped with a 1-0 victory.
“It’s good, especially against the Miners,” Daly said. “We didn’t have too much success against them last year, and they weren’t shy to rub it in.”
Bazzani, a freshman out of University of Tennessee-Martin, started and tossed seven scoreless innings and struck out 11, while giving up just one hit and two walks.
“It was just a good day for me,” Bazzani said. “I could throw two separate curveballs, one for strikes and one for them to swing and miss.”
Bazzani retired 10 of the first 12 batters he faced before giving up Mat-Su’s only hit in the fourth inning, a single by Jake Scudder, but responded with a strikeout of Garrison Schwartz to end the frame.
“(Bazzani) was outstanding,” Daly said. “To go that deep into the game in the first game of the season, it really sets the tone for these guys.
“(Huang) was phenomenal too, he’s got great command on four pitches and can throw them all for strikes.”
Huang, a sophomore from the National Taiwan Sport University, finished the final two frames in relief and retired six of seven batters, giving up just a lone walk to earn the save.
The Oilers scored the lone run of the game in the bottom of the sixth inning, getting returning third baseman Alex Seifert across the plate on a wild pitch by Miners pitcher Tyler Wyatt.
Wyatt took the loss for the Miners, going 5 2-3 innings and giving up five hits with two walks and five strikeouts.
Oilers catcher Cameron Miller highlighted Peninsula’s hitting with a double in the second inning. The Oilers had five hits as a group for the game.
Through 6 2-3 innings, Bazzani had struck out 10 and given up just one hit and one walk, but had trouble finishing the top of the seventh when two Miners got on with an error and a walk. Both Cam Montgomery and Jonah Garrison stole second and third on a pitch in the dirt, but Bazzani got out of the jam with a strikeout of Troy Squires.
Huang took to the bump in relief for Bazzani in the eighth, and quickly made his mark with a stellar throw on a soft hit to the mound. Huang made the quick turnaround and stretched out for the throw to first for the second out.
“We noticed that the other day in practice,” Daly said. “He made a couple like that.”
Seth DeWitt was caught stealing second base to end the fourth inning with two runners on, but the Oilers were given a break at the top of the fifth when third baseman Seifert snagged a hit on an slick over-the-head catch to retire the side.
In the top of the sixth, Josh Bissonette struck out swinging for the Miners’ second out, but Wyatt reached third with a steal, putting him in position to score with Josh Rolette up to bat. However, Rolette’s pop fly was caught by Shih-Tsung Wang to end the top of the frame.
The Oilers managed to put runners on the corners with one out in the bottom of the frame, and they finally managed to convert the opportunity when Seifert scored on the wild pitch.
The Oilers and Miners will be back at it today at 7 p.m. at Coral Seymour.
Wednesday
Oilers 1, Miners 0
Miners AB R H BI Oilers AB R H BI
Nkns, cf 3 0 0 0 Sfrt, 3b 3 1 0 0
Bsnt, ss 4 0 0 0 Ruhm, rf 4 0 1 0
Rlte, dh 4 0 0 0 Dwt, 1b 4 0 1 0
Scdr, 1b 3 0 1 0 Wang, lf 3 0 1 0
Swrz, lf 4 0 0 0 Cprn, ss 2 0 0 0
Mtgm, rf 4 0 0 0 Mllr, c 3 0 1 0
Grsn, 3b 2 0 0 0 Bash, 2b 3 0 0 0
Sqrs, c 3 0 0 0 Szpk, cf 2 0 1 0
Lee, 2b 2 0 0 0 Drrw, dh 3 0 0 0
Totals 29 0 1 0 Totals 27 1 5 0
Miners 000 000 000 —0 1 0
Oilers 000 001 000 —0 5 2
2B — Miller. HP — Seifert. SB — Bynum, Montgomery (2), Lee. E — Chapuran (2).
LOB — Miners 6, Oilers 5.
IP H R ER BB SO
Miners
Wyatt, L 5.2 5 1 1 2 5
Vernia 1.1 0 0 0 0 0
O’Brien 1.0 0 0 0 0 0
Oilers
Bazzani, W 7.0 1 0 0 2 11
Huang, S 2.0 0 0 0 1 0
Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion Peninsula Oilers pitcher Dom Bazzani delivers the first pitch of the 2016 season Wednesday at Coral Seymour Memorial Park.
Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion Peninsula Oilers pitcher Dom Bazzani delivers to home in the first inning Wednesday against the Mat-Su Miners at Coral Seymour Memorial Park.
