Peninsula Oilers first baseman Cole Hage forces out Marco Pirruccello of the Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks on Monday, June 7, 2021, at Coral Seymour Memorial Park in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

Peninsula Oilers first baseman Cole Hage forces out Marco Pirruccello of the Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks on Monday, June 7, 2021, at Coral Seymour Memorial Park in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

Panners take opening series from Oilers

The Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks defeated the Peninsula Oilers 4-3 on Monday in nonconference action at Coral Seymour Memorial Park in Kenai.

The Panners also defeated the Oilers 8-7 on Sunday to take the three-game, nonconference, exhibition series after the Oilers had won the opener.

The Oilers open Alaska Baseball League play on an eight-game road trip that starts Wednesday with a 7 p.m. game against the Anchorage Glacier Pilots at Mulcahy Stadium in Anchorage. The Oilers do not return home until June 19 with a 5 p.m. game against the Mat-Su Miners.

Monday, the Panners got a run in the second and three runs in the third. The Oilers answered with three runs in the third but could get no closer. Peninsula had a runner on third with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, but Ben Grunberg struck out.

Sunday, the Oilers staged a massive comeback that came up just short. Peninsula fell behind 5-0 after the first inning and 8-0 after the third inning.

In the bottom of the sixth inning in the seventh-inning game, the Oilers launched their comeback, scoring seven runs.

John Olmstead started the rally with a two-run home run to score Henry Noviki. Ben Grunberg then made it 8-3 when his double scored Andrew Sojka.

Grant Roosma then singled to score Grunberg. A Bryce Marsh single put two runners on for Cole Hage, who cleared the bases with a home run for a 8-7 game.

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