2006: Timmons, Mier combine to pace Goldpanners win
Staff Report
A solid start by the oldest player in the Alaska Baseball League and a seven-run fifth inning enabled the Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks to remain unbeaten in league play on s sunny Sunday afternoon.
Sean Timmons, the winningest pitcher in Goldpanners history, pitched seven solid innings to add another victory to his laurels and catcher Jessie Mier belted a three-run homer that snapped a 3-3 tie as the Goldpanners downed the Anchorage Bucs 10-3 before an appreciative gathering at Growden Memorial Park.
The win boosted the Panners to 2-0 in the ABL standings and 7-3 on the season. After scoring just four runs in their final three preseason games against the Beatrice, Neb., Bruins, the Panners have outscored their opponents 26-6 in their first two ABL contests.
“Cheff (Goldpanner manager Ed Cheff) made it a point to say that we needed to do things differently,” Mier said of the Goldpanners’ offensive turnaround.
“He just re-emphasized in a strong way the things that needed to be done in order for us to have success,” said Mier, who plays under Cheff’s direction at NAIA champion Lewis-Clark State in Idaho. “The main thing was that we needed to be more selective instead of chasing pitches.”
While Timmons said he wasn’t as sharp as he would have liked, he was still effective in scattering six hits over seven innings to earn the win.
“I struggled a little bit, so getting that seven-spot in the fifth was kind of nice,” the veteran Panner said. “I wasn’t as sharp as I might normally be because I didn’t get much of a chance to throw last week because of that trip I took to Savannah.”
Timmons was in Georgia for most of the week to undergo tests in order to become a physician’s assistant.
“I didn’t get any throwing in and I only ran a couple of times, so I wasn’t as sharp as I should have been today,” said Timmons, who figures to be in the Goldpanners regular rotation this summer and his net scheduled start in Saturday in Anchorage. “It’s still kind of fun to go out there, though.”
Will Morgan came in to pitch the final two innings for the Panners and gave up a pair of hits and no runs to keep the Bucs from making a comeback.
Trailing 3-0, the Panners finally got to Bucs starter Brian Kledzik in the fifth inning when Alaska scored seven times on five hits four walks and a hit batter.
With one out in the fifth, Panner shortstop Mark Thompson got the rally started with a single. Chris Fox, who went 3 for 3 on the day with a double, walk and hit by pitch, followed with a single and Jovanny Bramasco walked to load the bases.
Chu Yuan-Chen drew a bases-loaded walk to get the Panners on the scoreboard and then Beau Mills delivered a two-run single to tie the game and set the stage for Mier’s three-run blast that cleared the left field wall.
“It was a 2-0 pitch so I was looking for a fastball,” Meir said. “I knew we needed runs so I wanted to get the ball up in the air because a ground ball could have been a double play and ended the rally.
“I got the fastball and I got a good part of the barrel of the bat on it so I thought it had a chance,” he added.
The Panners added another run off reliever Lo Chen-Lung before the third Bucs pitcher, Chris Stansbury, got out of the inning. Alaska added another run in the seventh and put two more on the board in the eighth to seal the win.
Chu, Mills, Mier and Thompson all added two hits for the Panners and Meir wound up with four runs batted in.
Brian Peterson had a pair of triples for the Bucs, but didn’t score on either of those
The Panners head out onto the road for the rest of this week with games at the Mat-Su Miners tonight, at the Peninsula Oilers on Tuesday through Thursday, at the Anchorage Glacier Pilots on Friday and at the Anchorage Bucs on Sunday. Alaska returns home on July 2 to entertain the Mat-Su Miners in a 7 p.m. contest on Growden.
The Bucs, who fell to 2-4 in league play and 807 overall, remain in town to play the Athletes in Action Fire in 7 p.m. contests tonight, Tuesday and Wednesday.
Sports Editor Bob Eley can be reached at beley@newsminer.com , sports@newsminer.com or 459-7581.
