Eight Miners Make ABL All Star Game

Eight Mat-Su Miners have been announced as competitors in the first ever Alaska Baseball League All Star game taking place Sunday at Mulcahy Stadium in Anchorage. It will feature the best and brightest stars in the Alaska Baseball League as Blue will play Gold. The Miners received eight spots on the All Start rosters four position players and four pitchers.

The position players include, Miners shortstop Ryan Ford (SO/Middle Tennessee State) who will be the only Miner on the Gold team, is hitting .279 in 22 games and has driven in 7 runs. Ford also holds a fielding percentage of .979. Ford will be joined in the all-star game by his  double play partner second baseman Kevin Lum (JR/Oklahoma State). Lum is leading the Miners in hitting with .293 clip with 3 doubles, 1 triple, and 4 runs batted in. A third infielder will make an appearance in the all star game for the Miners. Third baseman Stephen Branca (JR/Tennessee Wesleyan) is currently hitting .273 with 10 runs driven in, Branca leads the Miners with 5 doubles. The fourth and final position player for the Miners is outfielder Dominick Francia (FR/UL Lafayette) who is hitting .243 and leads the Alaska Baseball League in stolen bases with 15.

Four Miners pitchers where named all stars. Starter Mark Anderson (SO/BYU) is 2-1 this season with a minuscule 1.42 ERA good for second on the team. Anderson has appeared in 5 games starting 3 of them. Ben Graff (FR/San Francisco) has been one of the Miners top bullpen arms this summer. Graff is 0-2 with a 0.69 ERA in 13 inning over 8 appearances. Opponents are hitting .163 Graff. Miners starter David Gibson (JR/Bluefield) is 3-1 3.24 ERA this season 5 games all of them starts. Gibson leads the Miners in strikeouts with 23. Ryan Dull (JR/UNC Asheville) has performed well for the Miners out of the pen and as a starter. Dull is 1-1 with 1.65 ERA in 8 outings 1 start. Dull has only walked 6 batters in 17 innings. Dull and Gibson will not pitch in the all-star game.

The inaugural Alaska Baseball League will start at 4:00pm at Mulcahy Stadium and will be preceded by the State Farm Home Run Derby. Two Mat-Su Miners will swing for the fences at 2:00pm. Adam Martin (FR/Western Carolina) and Stephen Branca will try to take home the home run derby title. The days events will kick off with fan fest begining at noon.