The Peninsula Oilers defeated the Chugiak-Eagle River Chinooks 4-3 in sudden death overtime Thursday in Alaska Baseball League play at Coral Seymour Memorial Park in Kenai.
The Oilers started a five-game series against the Chinooks by scoring three runs in the first inning and making that hold up in front of a large crowd in attendance for Ladies Night, during which the Oilers and Central Peninsula Hospital teamed up to raise breast cancer awareness.
Peninsula now faces the Chinooks on Friday and Saturday at 6 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m., then Monday at 6 p.m.
The victory let the Oilers strengthen their hold on second place in the ABL. The Anchorage Bucs lead the league at 16-7, the Oilers are second at 13-11, the Mat-Su Miners are third at 12-13, the Anchorage Glacier Pilots are fourth at 11-15 and the Chinooks are last at 8-14.
In their 50th anniversary, the Oilers leaned on one of the more legendary figures in club history to get the victory.
Gary Adcock served as the head coach of the Oilers in 1999 and 2000, leading the team to ABL titles each year. He has the best winning percentage in team history.
Adcock went on to become head coach at California Baptist University in 2004. He’s still at the school, which has since become an NCAA Division I outfit, and has a 733-386-1 record.
The coach has continued to supply the Oilers with players over the years. This year the Lancers’ contribution is Cameron Teper, Brock Wirthgen and Cody New.
Teper, a 6-foot-1, 175-pound lefty, served as the hero Thursday.
He came on in the sixth inning with the game tied at 3 and shut the Chinooks out the rest of the way on just one hit.
“He’s been pretty good, but we really haven’t extended him like that,” McCann said. “Today he got a chance, we extended him, and he did really well.”
Teper redshirted his first year at CBU, so he is facing college hitters for the first time.
“It’s not really that difficult to get outs in Alaska,” Teper said. “There’s wood bats. The ball doesn’t fly. There’s no reason to be afraid of anybody.”
Teper had Lancers teammate Wirthgen behind the plate. Wirthgen got off to a slow defensive start, allowing three balls to get away from him in the first two innings, but cut down two runners trying to steal while Teper was on the mound.
“Whenever me and Brock are on the field, we have this thing,” Teper said. “We just throw fastballs until they prove they can hit it.
“They didn’t prove they could hit a fastball, so I was just working with that all night.”
The game went to sudden death, which happens in the ABL if the game is tied after 10 innings. The home team picks offense or defense. The offensive team gets a runner on first, and if the offensive team doesn’t score, the offensive team loses.
With three hits in the game since the fifth inning, McCann had an easy choice.
“It would have been a nice night to be at home,” Chinooks head coach Tim Cole said. “Outside of that, it was a good game, with good baseball at both ends.”
In the sudden death inning, Oliver Degenhard broke for second base on the first pitch and drew a balk out of Teper.
“I had the same mind-set I had the whole game,” Teper said. “Just throw strikes, and they’ll get themselves out. And that’s exactly what they did.”
A fly ball, a strikeout and a fly ball later, the Oilers had a win.
Peninsula got three runs in the first inning against Chinooks starter Frankie Gulko, who shut the Oilers out over 6 1-3 innings on July 3.
“Every time we give him the ball, we know we’re gonna have a really good chance to win the ballgame,” Cole said. “He’s a great guy, and he’s a stud up on the bump.”
In the first inning, Petey Soto led off for the Oilers with a double, then Colin Robson singled in Soto. After a Ty Thomas double, Max Roffwarg scored Robson and Thomas with a double.
The Oilers got four of their seven hits in that first inning. After that, Gulko and reliever Gavin Alveti shut them down.
The best Oilers scoring chance came in the fifth, but Chugiak-Eagle River right fielder Sam Kwapnioski cut down New at the plate on a two-out single by Aidan Sullivan.
McCann said Gulko has a great changeup. The first time through the order, McCann said Gulko was throwing fastballs and breaking balls.
“When he started throwing his changeup more, he was getting us out in front,” McCann said. “That’s usually what he does.
“If he starts the game out like that, it’s probably a different story.”
The Chinooks pounded out 11 hits in the game, with Oilers starter Jacob Tabor giving up three runs — two earned — on 10 hits in five innings.
Chugiak-Eagle River didn’t score more because of not getting sac bunts down and the Oilers defense. In addition to Wirthgen catching two runners stealing, Tabor picked off another runner, Peninsula turned two double plays and Robson had another nice diving catch in center field.
“The sac bunts need some work, for sure,” Cole said. “Gotta get the job done, and that’s what we didn’t execute, and that’s the difference in the game.”
Robson finished 2 for 5 for the Oilers, while Louis Zulaica was 3 for 5, and David Broughton and Sam Kwapnioski were 2 for 5 for Chugiak-Eagle River.
Jayden Hill of the Chugiak-Eagle River Chinooks slides under Peninsula Oilers second baseman Cole Dawson for a stolen base Thursday, July 11, 2024, at Coral Seymour Memorial Park in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Peninsula Oilers reliever Cameron Teper delivers to the Chugiak-Eagle River Chinooks on Thursday, July 11, 2024, at Coral Seymour Memorial Park in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
