[Elendil]

Game Four

September 9, 2018 - Down two games to one, the Grizzlies saw this as a must-win game. It would be an uphill battle, as their hitters would have to figure out John Cormack, while Steven Henry would need to improve on his Game One performance. Colin Garrett was finally penciled into the lineup for Fairbanks.

Cormack looked strong at the start. The Grizzlies got runners to first and second before he set down both Samson and Meehan on swinging strikes. Nevertheless, the home team did get to him in the second inning. Stan Okawa slugged a leadoff double, then scored with one out on Miguel de la Cruz's single. De la Cruz himself scored from second on a two-out base hit by Wilfred McRae. 2-0.

Henry, meanwhile, was absolutely dominant. He struck out ten and walked none through the first six innings, giving up no runs. Going to the seventh, it was still 2-0 Kodiak.

In that inning, the Goldpanners finally got to Henry. With one out, Alcock managed a bloop double that got by a diving center fielder. Rookie Dave King followed that up with a two-run blast that tied the game. Henry would be pulled for Ben Bow later in the same inning, and Burns drove in Colin Garrett on a two-out triple off Bow to give Fairbanks the lead.

Things were looking dire for Kodiak at that point, but they got their chance after the seventh-inning stretch. With one out, Oxford walked and McRae reached on a bobble by the shortstop, putting runners on first and second. Navarro then drove a hard grounder into the hole in left, and Oxford scored easily. On the first pitch to the next batter, catcher McGrath, Navarro and McRae pulled off a daring double steal. (Interesting note: Navarro's second stolen base of his seven-year Alaskan League career thus came in a steal of third in a tie game in the Alaskan Championship Series. His previous stolen base? A steal of second as part of a double steal in the 2014 ACS, when he was with the Glacier Pilots.) McGrath followed that feat up with a liner that fell in front of the left fielder, allowing both Navarro and McRae to score and sending the crowd of 1,167 into a frenzy.

The score remained 5-3 until the ninth, when Davis Murdock came in for the save and pitched another scoreless inning in relief, working around a leadoff single by Bartholomew. Kodiak had tied up the series.

Game Five

September 10, 2018 - It was anyone's series again, and both teams could be expected to pull out all the stops in an attempt to win this crucial swing game. The town was still abuzz with chatter about Cardinal's bold double steal call the previous night. Pond and Lockwood would face off again, both looking for some redemption after shaky Game 2 performances.

In the bottom of the 1st, the Grizzlies immediately got things rolling. A McRae single, McGrath double, and Samson homer quickly made it 3-0.

However, the Goldpanners weren't two-time defending Alaskan champions for nothing. They clawed back, putting up runs in the second and third to come back within a run. They might come to rue the wasted opportunities in the third inning, when Colin Garrett left the bases loaded on a weak grounder with a full count.

The Grizzlies added an insurance run in the 3rd, but after that point both pitchers settled down. The Grizzlies' next true threat came in the 5th, when they put runners on second and third with one out after a double steal involving McGrath, who was still young and thus a bit spry for a catcher, and Samson. However, Meehan popped out and Okawa struck out to end the inning.

In the 7th, the Goldpanners jumped all over reliever Ben Bow. Garry Garrett singled, then Burns reached on a booted ball by the shortstop. With two outs and runners at second and third, Sloan Pike, now playing left field with Colin Garrett's return, came through in the clutch, driving a single into right. Both runners scored and the game was tied at 4.

The Grizzlies wasted chance after chance to go back on top, as McGrath grounded into a double play with runners on the corners and one out in the bottom of the 7th, and the team failed to capitalize with two runners on in the 8th, 9th, and 10th innings as well. The game went to extras, with Calvin Turley pitching for Kodiak and closer Jon Funk for Fairbanks.

In the top of the 11th, Kodiak closer Stuart Boutillier entered the game. He immediately ran into trouble, giving up a single to Colin Garrett, then throwing a wild pitch to Garry Garrett and ultimately walking him intentionally. But in a devastating 1-2 punch of tactical mistakes, Fairbanks squandered their chance. Colin Garrett was caught stealing third but Garry Garrett didn't go, then Rowland sacrificed to put Garry Garrett on second, but now with two outs. Pinch-hitter Johnny Nokes struck out to end the side.

Brad Morris, the former Sitka closer, then entered for Fairbanks. He immediately ran into trouble, yielding a single to Navarro and a double to McGrath. He then intentionally walked the red-hot Samson to pitch to Meehan, who drove a 2-2 pitch over the second baseman's glove to give the Grizzlies a walk-off victory. Final score: Kodiak 5, Fairbanks 4, 11 innings. The Grizzlies now led the series three games to two.

Game Six

September 12, 2018 - Kodiak might have the upper hand in the series, but Fairbanks was returning home, and everyone remembered what happened last year when Kodiak had been up three games to one.

Poor and Mihashi faced off before a crowd of 3,196 on a still but frosty night (40 degrees at first pitch). Both pitchers looked sharp early on, Mihashi even blowing some hitters away with a fastball that managed to hit 90 miles an hour - very unusual for him.

In the bottom of the 3rd, the Grizzlies gave the Panners an opening when the first baseman dropped a throw to put Neal on first. After a wild pitch and a stolen base, Neal was on third and in position to score on a Garry Garrett groundball to the shortstop, who was playing back. 1-0.

In the next frame, the Grizzlies tried to start a comeback, Meehan following a Samson single with a line-drive double to the gap, but Rob Corley (playing in left instead of Pike against the left-handed Poor) gunned him down at the plate in an amazing throw. That out ended the inning.

In the 5th inning, though, the Grizzlies got their chance to tie things up, when Poor helped out his own cause by singling home de la Cruz, who had doubled.

In the 6th, Kodiak really started to pull away, as the 42-year-old Mihashi began to look his age. Meehan doubled in Navarro and McGrath, then scored himself on a Bolduc double, making it 4-1 Kodiak.

Mihashi was lifted in the 7th, but it didn't do any good. Kodiak crushed Bryce Brown and Mark Deacon for four runs on five hits. They left the bases loaded but now had an 8-1 lead. The Grizzlies could almost taste the championship that had so long eluded them. Their elation began to display openly when a de la Cruz two-run homer in the 9th made the score 10-1.

But not so fast. With former Chugiak closer Jason Hilton pitching in the bottom of the 9th, the Goldpanners started to put together a rally.

Alcock led things off with a double off the wall in center. King grounded out, but then Bartholomew singled in Alcock. Colin Garrett grounded out to make the situation dire. However, the flood for the exits halted momentarily when Rowsell singled home Bartholomew and then Corley hit a monster blast to right-center to make it 10-5.

But there the rally died, as pinch-hitter O'Halloran grounded out on the first pitch he faced to set off the visiting team's celebrations.

Final score: Kodiak 10, Fairbanks 5. They win the series in six games, avenging their heartbreaking defeats in the '16 and '17 series. It is the Seward Division's first championship since 2014 (Glacier Pilots) and only their fourth ever.


The ACS Most Valuable Player was 22-year-old rookie catcher and odds-on favorite for AKL Rookie of the Year, Vincent McGrath. He went 12-for-24 with 4 doubles, 1 triple, 6 runs, 4 RBI, and a 1.321 OPS in the series.