The Peninsula Oilers took on the Alaska Goldpanners under the setting solstice sun Tuesday night at Growden Memorial Park in Fairbanks, but in an ironic twist, the game had to be suspended.
The 111th annual Midnight Sun Game, which starts at 10:30 p.m. and is played entirely without artificial lighting, was suspended in the top of the seventh inning with the Goldpanners holding an 8-0 lead over the Oilers.
With the sun officially setting at 12:48 a.m. and rising at 2:59 a.m., making for 21 hours, 49 minutes, of daylight in Fairbanks, the biggest issue proved to be storm clouds that rolled in, darkening the sky.
The game was halted around 1 a.m. when the umpires decided it was too dark to safely play. Several players had concerns about seeing pitches, and the game was delayed for about 30 minutes, all while the crowd chanted, “Let’s play ball!”
Finally, the game was suspended at 1:30 a.m.
Wednesday evening, the Panners picked up a 3-1 win over the Oilers in an originally scheduled nonleague game, then finished off the night with the resumption of the Midnight Sun game at about 10 p.m. The final score was not available as the Clarion went to press.
In Wednesday’s first seven-inning game, the Panners had seven base hits to the Oilers’ eight, but Peninsula also committed three errors. Seth DeWitt was the only Oiler to get past first on a single hit, notching a double.
Tyler Shumpert took the loss on the mound with five innings and gave up three runs (one earned) and four walks while striking out three. Andrew Bash tossed one inning of relief and gave up a single hit with no runs and one strikeout.
The Oilers took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning, but the Panners responded quickly in the bottom of the frame to tie it up. Fairbanks ultimately took the lead with two runs in the fifth.
Goldpanners 3, Oilers 1
Oilers AB R H BI Panners AB R H BI
Hill, cf 4 0 1 0 Mcrn, 2b 4 0 1 0
Spk, rf 4 0 1 0 Lrkn, rf 4 0 0 0
Dwtt, 1b 3 0 1 0 Hrr, 3b 2 1 0 0
Wang, lf 3 1 1 0 Cnly, 1b 4 0 3 1
Wfrd, dh 3 0 0 0 Atwl, dh 2 1 0 0
Cprn, ss 3 0 1 0 Krzm, cf 2 0 0 0
Pscy, 3b 3 0 1 0 Brwn, c 1 1 0 0
Hbr, c 3 0 1 0 Alko, ph 1 0 1 1
Sfrt, 2b 3 0 1 0 Mllt, c 0 0 0 0
Bntm, lf 3 0 0 0
Ngrt, ss 2 0 2 1
Totals 29 1 8 0 Totals 25 3 7 3
Oilers 010 000 0 —1 8 3
Panners 010 020 x —3 7 2
SB — Connolly (2), Aluko (3). CS — Krzmarzick, (2). E — Chapuran (6), Piscotty (2), Shumpert (1), Harrer (3), Hayes (1).
LOB — Oilers 9, Panners 10.
Oilers IP H R ER BB SO
Shumpert, L 5.0 6 3 1 4 3
Bash 1.0 1 0 0 1 1
Panners
Hayes, W 5.0 6 1 1 2 2
Franks 2.0 2 0 0 0 0
T — 2:08.
