Panners Pitcher Masterful
June 30, 2000, Daily News-Miner
By JOSH NIVA
ANCHORAGE--Alaska Goldpanners pitcher Dave Gassner celebrated the holiday weekend early by giving the bats of the Anchorage Bucs the night off Thursday.
Gassner pitched a complete-game gem Thursday night, leading the Panners to a 5-1 victory over the Bucs at Anchorage's Mulcahy Stadium.
The win kicked off the Panners' road trip in style and boosted their record to 9-5 (3-3 in the Alaska Baseball League). The Panners face the Bucs in a rematch tonight in Anchorage.
Second baseman Brooks Conrad and first baseman Ryan Garko each tallied two hits, one run and one RBI to lead Alaska. Both of Conrad's shots were doubles, while Garko had a single and a double.
But the man of the night for the Panners was Gassner, whose record improved to a spotless 3-0 with the win.
The junior southpaw from Purdue worked an unspectacular, yet highly effective, nine innings by scattering four Anchorage hits and allowing just two walks while striking out four.
Despite the overpowering performance, Gassner's ERA actually rose from a measly .61 to .76.
In typical pitcher's form, Gassner gave all the credit to his teammates after the game.
"You can't be afraid to let them hit the ball, so I just let my defense do all the work," said Gassner of challenging the Anchorage hitters. "(Catcher) Greg (Sain) called the pitches and I just did what he said."
Alaska manager Dan Cowgill, however, tipped his hat to his lanky hurler.
"We needed a quality start and he gave it to us," said the skipper. "He had three or four pitches going and his curveball was in the groove all night. He was feeling it."
Gassner got into the groove in a hurry, too. After allowing a hit in each of the first three innings, including leadoff doubles in the first and second frames and one run in the second, he faced the minimum 18 batters over the last six innings of the contest.
But that doesn't mean he didn't have to work. After walking a batter in both the fifth and seventh innings, he got out of the jams by picking off the two baserunners.
"That was a big confidence booster for me and the defense," said Gassner, who admitted he made a lucky guess on the first pickoff and an educated guess on the second. "After getting the first one, I read the second guy's move.
"And the quicker I get them out, the quicker the game goes and the more the defense is into the game," he added.
Gassner allowed a tough infield single with one out in the ninth. But this time his defense came to his aid by turning a slick 5-4-3 double play to end the game.
The Panners' offense was solid from top to bottom as five different players scored runs, while five hitters had an RBI. Center fielder Nate Sickler had two hits, an RBI and a stolen base while third baseman Arik Van Zandt added a hit, a run and an RBI.
The Panners scored two runs on three hits and an Anchorage error in the second, tacked on a run in the sixth and added two insurance runs in the ninth to ease the way for Gassner.
June 30, 2000, Daily News-Miner
