[Elendil]

Downtown Fairbanks in summer


Downtown Fairbanks at a rather different time of year

Game One

September 5, 2018 - This matchup of superstar pitchers likely to leave for richer pastures next year - Steven Henry and John Cormack - looked to be a great one. It was a chilly and windy night, but over 3,000 fans turned up at Growden Memorial to cheer on their Goldpanners.

After a three-pitch top of the first, the home team got things going in the bottom half when Alcock drew a walk and rookie Dave King homered. They then made the lead 3-0 in the 2nd inning on four singles.

Cormack continued strong, never really letting the Grizzlies into the game. He went eight innings of shutout ball, yielding four hits and a walk with four strikeouts. Henry, meanwhile, was shaky. He made it through just five innings, yielding five runs on 12 hits and three walks.

Fairbanks ended up taking the game 7-0 while still managing to leave 14 men on base (16 hits, 4 walks, 1 reached on error). Dominating the first game in such fashion could only be a good omen for the club.

Game Two

September 6, 2018 - Thursday was a bit warmer than the day before and certainly less windy, as Lockwood and Pond faced off. Colin Garrett wasn't quite ready, so Pike would stay in right for the Panners.

The Grizzlies started things off better this time, putting runners on second and third with nobody out in the first. But Pond got a popout, flyout, and strikeout to end the threat.

The Goldpanners, meanwhile, picked up where they left off, knocking in two runs on four hits in the bottom half.

In the top of the 3rd, the Grizzlies managed to even things up when Samson followed a McGrath double with a two-run blast to left-center. That made the score 2-2, a score that held until the bottom of the 4th, when the Goldpanners took the lead right back on leadoff back-to-back home runs from Burns and Corley.

The Grizzlies continued the home run derby their next turn up, as McRae drew a leadoff walk and Navarro followed it up with a monster shot to deep center, estimated at 447 feet. However, they failed to capitalize further when with runners on the corners and one out, Stan Okawa bunted. The sacrifice put a runner on second, but with two outs they could not advance on an out, and Bolduc popped out to end the inning. One can only assume that Okawa, not a fast runner, was trying to reach first on the play.

The 4-4 tie was finally broken in the 8th, when Miguel de la Cruz gave Kodiak the lead on a solo home run off Fairbanks reliever Bryce Brown. Kodiak would add to the lead in the ninth on an error, triple, and groundout. Final score: Kodiak 7, Fairbanks 4. Davis Murdock nailed down a two-inning save for the visitors.

The series was now knotted up and headed down south to Kodiak Island.

Game Three

September 8, 2018 - After the rest day, Mihashi and Poor faced off under colder-than-normal conditions at Kodiak Island Park. Contrary to team expectations, Colin Garrett had not come back yet for Fairbanks, as a twisted ankle suffered in warmups would keep him out for yet another game.

Kodiak got on the board early, as an error by third baseman Burns allowed Mark Navarro, who had doubled, to score. Fairbanks responded the next inning when pitcher Mihashi doubled in Bartholomew and Garry Garrett, then scored himself on a Neal single. 3-1 Fairbanks.

Kodiak worked Okawa, who had led off with a double, around the bases the next inning to make it 3-2. But Fairbanks responded again, putting together two singles and a double to take a 5-2 lead.

From that point on, Mihashi was surprisingly consistent. He went 8 innings, giving up three runs, two earned, on six hits and two walks with two strikeouts. Despite walking none and striking out 10, Poor was tagged with the loss, going seven innings with five earned runs allowed. Funk nailed down the save for Fairbanks. Final score: Fairbanks 5, Kodiak 3. They took a 2-to-1 lead in the series.