It was kind of a bad night for Ben Mount. He gave up three runs in the first two innings, and he's lucky to have escaped without more than that. He seemed like he was hit-or-miss on the night; it sounded like his breaking stuff was sharp but had trouble with his location. In any event, he racked up almost 60 pitches in the first two innings and the Pilots lifted him for local product Jesse McCartney.
After that it was solid pitching. And where the heck did McCartney come from? He's a local guy from the Anchorage adult league, listed as a fielder, but after Mount got smacked around he came in to pitch and totally tamed the Miners' bats. I don't know if he's for real or not, but A+ performance. On the other side, how about Miners left-hander Blake Dieterich out of the University of Georgia? To me, it didn't sound like he was treating it as a preseason warm-up; he was in it to win it. He pitched into the fifth when Bradley left-hander Joe Birch and then Florida State rightie Gage Smith came in to successfully close it out. Both looked very good.
Like I said the other day, the Pilots are going to have to put up more runs if they're going to win consistently, and this time their one run wasn't enough. Granted, they were running with a skeleton crew tonight; their hitting coach Pat Perry has been their starting catcher and team has activated GM Jon Dyson for their DH. NCAA regionals has apparently taken its toll on the league's rosters. But wait, this is no joke...don't forget that Perry was the NCAA DI batting champion, an All-American and player of the year in 2004, a Red Sox draft pick and had some pretty solid years in the independent minor leagues. I think that would make him qualified for this level of play, and the proof is in the pudding as he stroked two of the Pilots' three hits.
Overall, I think it was a pretty good game. I thought Mount would look better, but hey, everyone has games like these and this is the best time to have them. Other than that, great pitching all-around. I think some of the players are still getting used to the ballparks in Alaska, but that's what these preseason exhibitions are for. DeBiassi and Pippin also looked good for the Miners, plus 2B Ernesto Ortiz made a pretty great defensive stop for the Pilots.
Around the league: last night the Bucs beat the tar out of the Elmendorf Eagles. Can't say I'm too surprised there since the Eagles are literally out of their league against the Bucs. However, the Anchorage pitchers combined to one-hit Elmendorf on the night which is impressive. Tonight the Pilots/Miners exhibition series continues down the road in Mulcahy Stadium at 7PM. That's the only game in the league tonight, and it'll be broadcast on KHAR 590AM/96.7FM, with streams available on GlacierPilots.com and MatSuMiners.org. Tomorrow night the Pilots/Miners series continues and the Anchorage Bucs get things started for real in league play against the Peninsula Oilers in Anchorage. Also, don't forget that Day 2 of the MLB draft is today, and we're sure to see a lot of former ABL players picked up in this phase of the selections!
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