[Elendil]

View near Eagle River Nature Center


Game One


Chip Becker (17-3, 2.88)

vs.


Louis Mays (14-4, 2.38)

August 31, 2012 - The sixth annual Alaskan Championship Series opened on an unseasonably warm evening at Oberg Field in Chugiak. Oberg Field is known for its hitter-friendliness, with both batting averages and home run rates significantly above normal. It is particularly friendly to right-handed hitters. The Jets had, however, built a pitching staff around control and home run prevention and were thus a tough opponent in their home confines.

The Nicks wasted no time in getting on the board, putting together a couple of singles and working a run home to take the first lead of the series.

The Jets took the lead in the bottom of the third when center fielder Jimmy Williams blasted a two-run home run, and that got the sellout crowd of 1,600 rocking.

North Pole promptly struck again in the third, benefiting from timely hitting, good baserunning, and a miscue by Mays to score two runs and take a 3-2 lead.

In the fourth they extended the lead to 5-2 on a run-scoring double by Comeback Player of the Year candidate Dominique Gaudet.

Errors in the field continued to plague Chugiak, and it was 6-2 in the middle of the 6th. The Jets then got things going with a leadoff homer by young outfielder Phil Botfield, followed by a couple of singles and then a three-run shot by third baseman Luke York. 6-6.

The scoring didn't stop there, though, but unfortunately for the home team, it was all North Pole the rest of the way. Mays was finally chased in the 8th, and Ryan Dye yielded a grand slam to John Abston to put the game out of reach.

Final score: North Pole 11, Chugiak 6. A sloppy game in which the Jets made 4 errors and the Nicks 2. Four home runs in all.

Game Two


Chance Major (9-6, 3.01)

vs.


Eugene Pond (10-5, 3.30) (the uniform gives away where he will sign when he hits free agency after the season)

September 1, 2012 - It would be the veteran fireballer Chance Major versus the phenomenal young control pitcher Eugene Pond, two perennial Pitcher of the Year candidates. Would bad fielding and park effects make this one another slugfest, or will the pitchers crack down?

The first inning gave the answer to that question. After North Pole scored a run off an RBI double by Bob Horton, the Jets answered with five against Major, four of them coming on a grand slam home run by Jimmy Williams.

In the top of the 3rd, North Pole came back to tie things up on a five-hit parade. In the bottom half, the Jets took the lead again on a solo blast by York. Then in the top of the 4th, the Nicks came right back and tied it up by putting together a reached on error, walk, and single. Pond's pitch count was too high by this point, and he was pulled before pitching even four innings. Score: 6-6.

In the 6th, the Nicks took the lead on Jet reliever Doug Miles when Abston jacked a solo shot to lead off the inning. The crowd was getting really nervous now, as going down 2-0 in the series seemed quite possible now.

In the bottom of the 7th, the Jets took the lead back when first baseman Stanton Ryan hit a two-run homer. 8-7 Chugiak. Two insurance runs came in the 8th when shortstop Mike Gaston got in on the fun and hit a two-run homer of his own.

Final score: Chugiak 10, North Pole 7. Who says pitching & defense win championships? Only one error in this game, though.



Game Three


Monzaemon Mihashi (12-4, 2.61)

vs.


Tom Pick (8-10, 4.63)

September 3, 2012 - A chilly 40 degrees at game time in North Pole in front of a packed house, with 200 fans occupying temporary seating.

This game looked much more like a pitching and defensive battle from the start. Bob Horton did give the Nicks a two-run lead on a home run in the 1st, but otherwise Mihashi was solid. Pick, likewise, was almost dominant, with some help from his defense. The Jets put together two walks and three singles in the 2nd but could only get 2 runs out of all that action.

The score remained 2-2 until the 6th, when Horton struck again, doubling in a run and then scoring on a wild pitch. 4-2.

In the 8th Ryan Dye came in again to keep things close, and again he failed. He yielded another grand slam, this one to Edison Dwyer! Dye had now allowed eight runs, seven earned, in the postseason, without getting anybody out! This was a guy who posted a 2.77 ERA as an elite starter in the regular season.

Final score: North Pole 8, Chugiak 2. This really put the screws on the Jets for game 4. No errors in this game!

Game Four

Mays vs. Becker

September 4, 2012 - The Nicks continued their tradition of striking first in this series when Abston managed to lift a solo shot out of the park against Mays in the first inning. However, in the 3rd, the Jets got to Becker, as Ryan tripled in Mays, who was hitting .750 in this series now (!), and Gaston, then scoring himself on a sac fly. Chugiak 3, North Pole 1.

In the 4th the error bug hit the Nicks, and the Jets made them pay. York and Mays both reached on errors, and a single and sac fly made it 5-1.

Dominique Gaudet got a two-run double for North Pole in the 5th, and Becker pitched a complete game, but Hilton came in and nailed down his second save of the series, as Chugiak tied it up. Final score: Chugiak 5, North Pole 3. One more game in North Pole before the series heads back to Chugiak.