The Anchorage Glacier Pilots were late to the slugfest Monday night, but when they finally showed up they came with plenty of firepower.
The Pilots belted 10 of their 13 hits in their final three turns at the plate, a late outburst that carried them past the Anchorage Bucs 10-8 in Game 1 of the Top of the World Series at Mulcahy Stadium.
Game 2 of the Alaska Baseball League’s best-of-3 championship series is Tuesday at 7 p.m.
The Pilots were scoreless through five innings as the Bucs grabbed a 7-0 lead behind starter Noah Mattera, who gave up three hits in that span.
In the next two innings, the Pilots piled up nine hits to surge to an 8-7 lead.
Blake WInk’s leadoff homer sparked a three-run, five-hit sixth inning that included a two-run double from Nick Hagedorn. In a five-run, four-hit seventh inning, Tom Tabak and Michael McNamara stroked RBI singles and the Bucs hurt themselves with two errors, four walks, a hit batsman and a wild pitch.
The Pilots added another hit and two more runs in the eighth for a 10-7 lead. The Bucs threatened in the ninth, getting a two-out double by Jack Skipworth and a run-scoring single from Kyson Donahue, but a groundout ended the rally.
Both teams piled up 13 hits.
Wink and Hagedorn were both 2 for 4 for the Pilots, with Wink scoring twice and Hagedorn driving in four. Cody Curfman got the win in relief, limiting the Bucs to one run in 3 2/3 innings.
For the Bucs, Carson Roccaforte and Jake Machtolf both supplied two hits and two RBIs.
Roccaforte and Skipworth each hit two-out, run-scoring singles to spot their team to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. In the fourth, the Bucs hit four straight singles and took advantage of two Pilot errors to make it 6-0. By the end of the fifth they led 7-0.