The Peninsula Oilers finished up their home schedule with a 5-2 loss to the Anchorage Glacier Pilots in Alaska Baseball League play Saturday at Coral Seymour Memorial Park in Kenai.
The Oilers, at 12-25 in the league, have just three games left to play. The squad will play a 5 p.m. doubleheader at the Pilots on Wednesday and a 6 p.m. game at the Chugiak Chinooks on Thursday.
Peninsula is 2.5 games behind the Anchorage Bucs for the fourth and final league playoff slot. The Bucs have four games left in the season.
Saturday, the Oilers were behind 5-0 by the top of the sixth inning against Pilots starter Ricky Tibbett, who has a 0.98 ERA this season. Tibbett pitched 5 1-3 innings, giving up a run on a hit while walking three and striking out five.
Jake Putnam took the loss for the Oilers, giving up four runs and six hits in five innings while walking three and striking out four.
The Oilers did load the bases behind 5-2 in the bottom of the eighth, but that threat ended on a strikeout.
Peninsula had five hits in the game, with Grant Roosma getting two of them. Garrett Pennington, Dylan Ditzenberger and Andrew Sojka also had hits.
Friday, the Oilers and Pilots split a doubleheader, with the Pilots taking the first game 3-2 and the Oilers winning the second game 7-5.
In the first game, the Pilots took a 3-0 lead with runs in the first, fourth and fifth innings. The Oilers came back with two runs in the sixth but could rally no more.
Liam Rocha took the loss for the Oilers, going five innings and giving up three runs on three hits while walking three and striking out six. Mason Posey pitched the last two innings, allowing no runs on two hits.
The Oilers got eight hits against the Pilots, with John Olmstead going 2 for 4 and Dylan Ditzenberger going 2 for 4 with a run.
Cole Moore, Garrett Pennington, Andrew Sojka and Bryce Marsh also had hits.
In the second game, Oilers starter Luke Yacinich improved to 5-1 with a complete-game victory. Yacinich gave up five runs on six hits while walking one and striking out eight.
The Oilers got out to a quick start in the game, scoring two runs in the first, three runs in the second and two runs in the third. Anchorage came back with three runs in the fourth and two runs in the sixth.
Peninsula was able to bang out 10 hits in the game. Olmstead was 3 for 4, while Cole Moore was 2 for 4. Pennington, Sojka, Henry Novicki, Tyler Johnson and Marsh also had hits. Novicki and Marsh each had two runs.
Oilers starting pitcher Luke Yacinich delivers to the Anchorage Glacier Pilots on Friday, July 23, 2021, at Coral Seymour Memorial Park in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
