Nooks win see saw battle over Pilots at Mulcahy

Tim Barto-Chinooks

Game Eight Summary

Wednesday night's game saw the Chinooks visiting Mulcahy Stadium to play the Anchorage Glacier Pilots in a close game.  Righthander Frankie Gulko took the hill for the Fish and threw four shutout innings, striking out only one batter but giving up only two singles and walking none. The fifth inning started well, as Gulko struck out the first two batters, but then walked the next two Pilots. The next batter hit a flyball that looked like it would end the inning, but a fielding error allowed a run to score as the runners were on the move with two outs. The Pilots took that one run lead into the seventh inning. Chinooks batters were aggressive with the bats all night long, going after several first pitches and gathering seven hits through six innings; however, all seven runners were left stranded. In the seventh, Orion Medeiros drew a one out walk and advanced to second with some heads-up baserunning. That brought leadoff hitter Olive Degenhardt to the plate, who pulled a two-two pitch down the left field line, just making it over the wall for a two run home run and a two to one lead. Gulko left after six complete innings and only 74 pitches, giving him a very solid average of just over twelve pitches per inning. The Pilots greeted reliever Gavin Alveti with the strangest string of three hits one will ever see: two infield singles and a dying quail blooper to center. One run ended up scoring, tying the game at two runs apiece. Alveti, a righthanded sophomore out of the University of Central Arkansas, put on an impressive performance in the eighth inning, striking out the side. Catcher RJ Rickabaugh drove in a hustling Jayden Hill to regain the lead in the eighth. The Chinooks added two more runs in the top of the ninth with Oliver Degenhardt driving in his third run of the game. Louis Zulaica and Jordan Jaffe each collected two hits ln the night. Medeiros found his way on base three times via a single, a walk, and one hit-by-pitch, coming around to score two runs. Adyn Collins came in to pitch the ninth. After walking the first two batters, he took charge, striking out three in a row to close it out and give the Chinooks the win.  Final score:  Chinooks 5, Pilots 2. 

The Chinooks' are now at .500 (four wins, four losses) in league play.  Their next game is Thursday night against the Anchorage Bucs at Mulcahy Stadium.