Athletes in Action Edge Panners
June 16, 2000, Daily News-Miner
By RICHARD LARSON
Byron Johnson drilled a run-scoring double to right field in the top of the 14th inning, lifting Athletes in Action to a thrilling 3-2 victory over the Alaska Goldpanners on Thursday at Growden Park.
The Goldpanners overcame an early 2-0 deficit, tying the game with a run in the bottom of the ninth. They had the potential game-winning run gunned down at the plate in the 13th inning before Johnson delivered the game-winning hit for AIA.
Johnson smacked a one-out double off Panners reliever Chris Dunwell that scored Casey Walkup from second base with the winning run.
"I was trying to end it," Johnson said. "I was surprised they didn't walk me with first open and one out. He threw me a curveball and I sat back and got it out there."
Johnson was 0-for-4 prior to his at-bat in the 14th. He grounded out in each of his first four at-bats, including hitting into a double play in the ninth, and had a sacrifice bunt in the 12th before delivering his game-winning hit.
"You never want to lose a game like that," Johnson said. "The Panners did come back, but we just had to battle through it. We kept our composure."
The Goldpanners (1-1) had a chance to win the game in the bottom of the 13th when Barry Matthews tried to score from second on a single to short centerfield by Jack Wickersham. AIA (2-3) center fielder Eddie Lang made a great throw to the plate, gunning down Matthews easily.
"That was a great play, an outstanding play," Johnson said. "That was a game-saver for us."
Wickersham had driven in his team's two previous runs in the game and the Panners' player/coach finished 2-for-3 in the game with two walks and a sacrifice fly. Wickersham played third and will likely continue to see action until the Panners' full roster is in town. Nate Sickler and David Gassner arrived on Wednesday, giving the Panners 14 players.
In the bottom of the ninth, Wickersham delivered a clutch single on an aggressive hit-and-run call by field manager Dan Cowgill. With Panners on first and second and one out, Cowgill sent the runners in motion and Wickersham completed the hit-and-run perfectly, lining a grounder between the shortstop and third baseman that scored Chad Redfern with the game-tying run.
The Panners ended up leaving the bases loaded in the ninth and stranded 13 runners in the game. AIA left just seven runners on base.
AIA took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Mel Sotcker led off with a single, stole second and advanced to third on an error. Stocker then came in to score when Casey Walkup struck out, but the ball got past Panners catcher Greg Sain. Sain got to the ball quickly, but neglected to check Stocker back to third before throwing Walkup out at first.
A pair of infield singles and a double steal with two outs led to AIA's second run of the game in the fifth inning. Matt Van Asberg led off the inning with a single and eventually came in to score.
The Panners struck for their first run in the bottom of the seventh when Matthews led off with a single, advanced to second on an error and went to third on a single by Ryan Johnson. Wickersham then hit a fly ball to center field that scored Matthews.
Matt Berry held the Panners scoreless on two hits through six innings before allowing two runs on five hits in the last 2[1/3] innings he pitched. Justin Hill and Ryan Harrison combined for 5[2/3] scoreless innings of relief, with Harrison picking up the win.
Panners starter Andrew Davidson allowed just two runs, one earned, on four hits in 4[1/3] innings, but was lifted after throwing 75 pitches. Davidson struck out five and walked two. Brian Felten pitched 5[2/3] innings of scoreless relief, striking out three and walking none, while giving up two hits.
Dunwell took the loss, allowing one run on two hits in four innings of work.
The Panners and AIA meet again tonight at 7 p.m. at Growden Park.
Panner nuggets: Arik Van Zandt, who played for the Panners last year and is one of four Stanford players on the Goldpanners roster this year, was 2-for-3 with a triple, three runs scored and two RBIs in the Cardinal's 19-9 win over Louisiana-Lafayette in the College World Series on Thursday. ... Thursday's contest was the first one-run game of the Panners, who played in 23 one-run games last year. ... Ryan Johnson was 4-for-5 in his Panners debut and was intentionally walked in the 13th inning. ... Nate Sickler arrived in Fairbanks at 5 p.m. on Thursday and began the game at 7 p.m. in left field. ... Thursday's game last 3 hours and 40 minutes.
