The Goldpanners faced off against Team Philippines for the third time in the same amount of days on Thursday. The visitors picked up their first win of the series, holding off a Goldpanner rally in the ninth to secure a 6-5 win and snap Alaska’s five-game winning streak.
It was a slow night offensively for both teams for a large portion of the game. The Goldpanners jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead behind an RBI on a fielder’s choice for Alex Garcia in the bottom of the second, and a Matt Leiterman double in the third.
Shortly after, Team Philippines found their first score in the top of the fourth. Goldpanners’ starter Shaw Lee was solid in his start, going 4.2 innings with six hits, one earned run, three walks and four strikeouts.
Neither team scored again until the seventh, where Team Philippines equalized on a fielder’s choice to make it 2-2. Prior to that, they entered the inning with only one run on eight hits, as the Goldpanner pitchers continuously stranded runners on base for the opposition.
Things began to heat up from there, as the tie didn’t last long. A Jacob Badawi double pushed Alaska back in front 3-2 in the bottom of the seventh, but Team Philippines responded to take their first lead of the night in the eighth. Two more runs in the ninth gave the visitors a 6-3 cushion going into the final set of at-bats for the Goldpanners.
Two hits and three walks had the Goldpanners rolling. Now down 6-5 with the bases loaded and two outs, they had a chance to pull off the comeback. Badawi sent the ball into the outfield, but it was a routine fly out for the left fielder, seeing the Goldpanners fall short.
At the plate, Alaska finished with 12 hits as a team with Holt Williams leading the team with a 3-5 performance. Alex Garcia provided the most damage at the plate in a 2-4 night, giving him two RBIs.
The result moves the Goldpanners to 22-11-2 on the year. They’ll have a chance to bounce back at 7 p.m. on Friday.
Contact Caleb Jones at (907) 459-7530 or at cjones@newsminer.com.
