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2008 Midnight Sun Game Early Entry Pass
Baseball at midnight? Only in Alaska
(Miami Herald) - It was weird,' said Brad Arnsberg, a former Marlins
pitching coach, of the Midnight Sun experience. You had to have foil on your
bedroom windows just to keep the light from jumping in when you were trying to
sleep. I remember, unfortunately, walking out of a couple of bars at three or
four in the morning and it was broad daylight. It was kind of an odd feeling.'
CLICK FOR Midnight Sun Game
| Panners sweep Miners
Starting pitcher Mike Moat mowed down the Miners through 8 2/3 innings, pitching a four-hitter, and Todd Jennings led the offense, belting a mammoth first-inning home run and picking up a pair of RBIs. The most impressive performance on the day, however, came from the Panners' defense, specifically that of third baseman Chad Corona. In the top of the seventh inning, Moises Duran popped a ball up in foul territory that looked like it was going to drift out of play behind the Panners' dugout. The ball drifted back toward the front of the dugout, however, and Corona reached far over the fence to snare the ball, tumbling headfirst over the fence. Corona grabbed the chainlink with his bare hand and flipped himself over, keeping ahold of the ball as he landed on his feet after falling 6 feet to the cement floor of the dugout. "To tell the truth I didn't think I'd be able to get to it," said Corona, sporting a bandage over a cut on his hand he suffered making the play. "When the ball starting coming back, I thought what the heck. The ball fell in my glove, I got it put away, grabbed the fence and did a flip." Corona has made a few stellar catches against the wall this season, but none of his prior efforts were as sensational as Friday's grab. "There's no pressure really. It's a foul ball. You have nothing to lose so you might as well go all out," Corona said. "I've made a lot of plays on foul balls, but nothing this dramatic. I've gone against the fence before, but never up and over it. It's a new experience." Corona earned a huge round of applause for his effort and got another big hand when he stepped to the plate to lead off the bottom half of the inning, cranking a double off the left-field wall. Corona came in to score the Panners' fourth and final run of the game on an RBI single by Tony Perez. The Miners managed to push across one run in the top of the ninth as Jake McConiga led off with a single and came around to score on a pair of fielder's choices. "I was hoping for (the shutout), but that's the way baseball goes," said Moat, who was lifted with two outs and a runner on first in the ninth inning. Scott Robertson got the final out of the game. Moat struck out four, didn't walk a batter and allowed one run on four hits. "It definitely was not as good as I've felt. I didn't have great velocity, but you just have to go out there and do the best you can with your stuff," Moat said. "I'm a ground-ball guy and my defense behind me was strong." Jennings put the Panners up 1-0 in the bottom of the first when he when he crushed a two-out home run about 400 feet, knocking it over the KFC sign in left-center field. "I was just trying to get comfortable and get a good swing on it," Jennings said. "It was the first one of the summer for me and its feels great." The Panners went up 2-0 in the second when Tyler Best doubled and scored on a two-out base hit by Mike Hofius. Best injured a finger on his catching hand sliding home. Best was taken to Fairbanks Memorial Hospital with a possible broken finger. A sacrifice fly by Jennings scored Perrez in the sixth inning, putting the Panners ahead 3-0. The win was the fifth straight for the Panners and moved them to 23-14 overall and 18-11 in the Alaska Baseball League. After a 2-5 start, the Panners have gone 16-6 in their last 22 league games. The Miners fell to 13-24 overall, 8-21 in the ABL. July 20, 2002, Daily News-Miner |
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