A night after capping a doubleheader split with a complete game flourish, the Peninsula Oilers pitching staff was back at it again on a sun-splashed Sunday afternoon at Coral Seymour Memorial Park in Kenai.
The Oilers defeated the Alaska Baseball League leading Mat-Su Miners 1-0 on the back of starting right-hander Justin Montgomery, who nearly completed a no-hitter, settling for a one-hitter with two outs away in the top of the ninth.
Mat-Su outfielder Brooks Stotler broke up the no-no with a two-out single to ruin the pristine outing for Montgomery, and the Oilers quickly pulled him off the mound for reliever Ryan Lillie, who finished up the game with a strikeout on eight pitches to record the save.
In Saturday’s second game of a doubleheader against the Miners, Billy Oxford pitched a complete game shutout, giving up just three hits.
Sunday, Montgomery continued the trend to a higher degree. The Cal Baptist University freshman that hails from Corona, California, finished at 112 pitches, throwing 75 of those for strikes. Montgomery (2-2) struck out seven and walked two.
It was the second win in a row for the Oilers, putting their ABL record at 12-12 and reaching .500 for the first time since June 30. Peninsula is 15-16 overall.
Mat-Su’s starter Jacob Hughey came up big as well, giving up just two hits and one walk in seven innings while striking out four. The combination of Hughey and Montgomery resulted in a speedy 2 hour, 4 minute contest.
The Oilers scored the lone run of the game on a wild pitch in the bottom of the fourth. Brody Wofford drew a two-out walk, then advanced to second on a hit-by-pitch to Seth DeWitt. A single by Jonathan Washam bounced off the mound and into center field, which loaded the bases, and Hughey sent a ball into the dirt and behind catcher Andy Cosgrove, allowing Wofford to make it home for an Oilers lead that they never relinquished.
In the top of the fifth, Montgomery issued his first walk of the game to Levi Jordan, ruining what had been a perfect game to that point. Jordan was picked off at second to end the top half of the frame.
The Oilers begin a three-game nonleague series with the San Francisco Seals today at 7 p.m. at Coral Seymour.
Sunday at Coral Seymour
Memorial Park
Oilers 1, Miners 0
Miners AB R H BI Oilers AB R H BI
Swrz, rf 4 0 0 0 Hill, cf 4 0 1 0
Lee, 3b 3 0 0 0 Dwsn, ss 4 0 1 0
Scdr, 1b 3 0 0 0 Wfrd, lf 2 1 0 0
Dndo, dh 2 0 0 0 Dwtt, 1b 2 0 0 0
Nkns, pr 0 0 0 0 Wshm, dh 3 0 1 0
Jrdn, 2b 2 0 0 0 Szpk, rf 3 0 0 0
Armt, ss 3 0 0 0 Cprn, 2b 3 0 0 0
Bynm, lf 3 0 0 0 Hbr, c 3 0 0 0
Cgrv, c 3 0 0 0 Sfrt, 3b 3 0 0 0
Stlr, cf 3 0 1 0 —
Totals 26 0 1 0 Totals 27 1 3 0
Miners 000 000 000 —0 1 1
Oilers 000 100 000 —1 3 0
CS — Nickens (2), Jordan (3). E — Lee (4).
LOB — Miners 1, Oilers 4.
IP H R ER BB SO
Miners
Hughey, L 7.0 2 1 1 1 4
Vorhof 1.0 1 0 0 0 2
Oilers
Montgomery, W 8.2 1 0 0 2 7
Lillie, S 0.1 0 0 0 0 1
T — 2:04.
