The Anchorage Glacier Pilots defeated the Peninsula Oilers 14-7 on Saturday in Alaska Baseball League play at Coral Seymour Memorial Park in Kenai.
The Pilots improved to 1-2 in the current series and 3-5 in the season series against the Oilers. The game saw 15 hits for the Pilots and 11 for the Oilers.
The Mat-Su Miners, with a doubleheader sweep of the Chugiak-Eagle River Chinooks on Saturday, now lead the league at 19-14.
The Anchorage Bucs (19-16) and Pilots (18-15) are a game back, while the Oilers are four games back at 14-17 and the Chinooks are seven games back at 12-20.
Oilers coach Larry McCann said the biggest challenge for his team right now is that 10 players have gone home for various reasons. McCann said more than half of those who have left have been pitchers.
“When you lose pitchers, it hurts,” McCann said. “We lost some position players, but they really didn’t hurt.
“These are our core guys. They are probably our best guys. They’re good teammates and they’re trying to pick each other up.”
McCann said the Oilers will be short on arms the rest of the season.
Harrison Metz, a product of Homer High and the American Legion Twins, got the start Saturday and gave up eight runs — seven earned — on eight hits in two innings.
Sam Silversmith then gave up four runs on five hits in four innings.
Position player Owen McElfatrick gave up a pair of runs in two innings, while position player Nick Costello had a scoreless ninth.
“We’ve got some kids that can pitch that are position players, and they did fine,” McCann said. “I don’t want to get them hurt. They’ll pitch in emergency situations and throw a minimum amount of pitches.”
The Oilers were down 8-0 after the top of the third inning and never seriously threatened to get back in the game, but that didn’t stop the squad from piling up hits.
McElfatrick was 2 for 5 with an RBI and a run, Michael Elko was 2 for 4 with an RBI and a run, Costello was 1 for 4 with a pair of RBIs, Leighton Helfrick was 2 for 5 with a run, Brett Grupe was 2 for 4 with two runs and an RBI, and Ryson Ujimori was 2 for 4 with two runs and an RBI.
Andrew Lamb of the Anchorage Glacier Pilots slides under the tag of Peninsula Oilers third baseman Michael Elko for a triple Saturday, July 22, 2023, at Coral Seymour Memorial Park in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
