Two separate nine-game winning streaks in the back half of the season, an eight-game string of wins earlier on, and a victory in the famed Midnight Sun Game made for a pretty successful season for the Alaska Goldpanners. In fact, even without a postseason tournament, the 2023 campaign could be declared as historically successful.
Fairbanks’ resident summer baseball team compiled 30 wins for a fourth-straight season and posted a seventh consecutive winning season. The Panners’ 33-9 record gave them their best winning percentage (78.5%) since the 1980 season, according to records obtained from the organization.
The team achieved all that in spite of dealing with roster turnover due to injuries and some players being called back to their universities. The Panners ran out of pitchers as they dropped the final two games of the season in a road series they led 2-0 against the Medford Rogues.
“We had 38 guys play for us this summer so to have the record we had with all the moving parts and pieces was really tremendous,” general manager John Lohrke said.
Perhaps just as importantly, the Goldpanners also reached all of their unmeasurable goals — namely, offering their players reps and development while building relationships with each other and the state.
“I think the main thing was to get them to play without the fear of failure,” Lachemann said. “Usually in a college season, if you don’t play well for a weekend, you might be on the bench the next weekend…..So I just told them ‘if you play well, you’re gonna play tomorrow night. And if you don’t play well, you’re gonna play tomorrow night.’ I just wanted to take the pressure off.”
Forming connections and leaving previously uninitiated team members with a strong lasting impression of the Last Frontier is invaluable because much of the team’s roster construction is informed by connections.
Take for instance new manager Bret Lachemann, who piloted the Panners’ season. He was an assistant on the 2009 team and a recommendation of the previous manager, Mark Lindsay.
Another relationship built on the 2009 team provided the Goldpanners with a strong contingent of their Division I players — Lachemann has maintained a friendship with current Gonzaga pitching coach Brandon Harmon ever since they served as assistants together in Fairbanks during that summer.
One of the three Bulldogs on this summer’s squad was standout catcher Donovan Ratfield. Like a number of his new teammates who have little say over where they play their summer months, Ratfield came to Fairbanks sight unseen
“Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect,” Ratfield said. “I thought {Fairbanks} was going to be a smaller town than it actually was. So I don’t think I was expecting that many people to be at every game, but it’s just awesome.”
Off the field, Ratfield and his teammates spent a considerable amount of time outdoors, particularly fishing, to build chemistry and camaraderie. One group on the team even caught as many as 170 grayling in an outing.
On the diamond, the summer games served a part of their purpose as a developmental lab where pitchers can try out different pitches, whether that means developing their curveball or fastball, and hitters try out new stances.
“I worked on my approach, just some mechanical adjustments, and played a bunch of different positions, so that helped me with my versatility on defense,” Ratfield said.
That corroborated his coach’s sentiment on the results he saw.
“On the hitting side and defensive side, I thought Donny Ratfield really improved,” Lachemann said.
Another adjustment the summer season helps with is playing with wooden bats, like MLB teams do. As such, it’s something players who hope to have professional careers want to get a feel for. High school and college teams play with metal bats instead.
“Learning how to hit with a wood bat is a big step with the hitters,” Lachemann said. “And I think they really improved once they got used to the wooden bats over the course of the season.”
In addition to the on-field product being among the best in Goldpanners history, Lohrke also cited increased crowds, the implementation of advance ticket sales, a new scoreboard and fresh turf, the latter of which started being installed on Monday, July 31, as further reasons for excitement and progress within the organization.
While it’s too early to know which players will be returning to next year’s iteration of the Goldpanners, Lachemann will be back for his second season next summer along with lead assistant Carlos Gonzalez. They’ll get to share the state’s beauty and offerings with another crop of players and hope to win as many games. But more importantly, they’ll give their players the freedom to expand their abilities in a pressure-free environment
College coaches trust Lachemann and his staff with their athletes. The Goldpanners in turn handle the logistics of navigating the unexpected complications and roster churn of semi-professional baseball at the top of the world.
