A6 | Tuesday, July 2, 2019 | Peninsula Clarion
Sports
Oilers top Pilots, snap 6-game skid By JEFF HELMINIAK Peninsula Clarion
The Peninsula Oilers defeated the Anchorage Glacier Pilots 6-5 in 10 innings Monday in Alaska Baseball League action at Coral Seymour Memorial Park in Kenai. The win snapped a sixgame losing streak for the Oilers. Peninsula moves to 8-16 and is in fourth place in the league, 8.5 games behind the league-leading Anchorage Bucs. The Pilots came up just short in their attempt to sweep the five-game series and sit at 13-10, in third in the league just a game behind the Mat-Su Miners and three games behind the Bucs. The Miners and Chinooks were still playing
Monday night as the Clarion went to press. Monday’s win was a roller-coaster ride, with the Oilers jumping out to a 3-0 lead only to fall behind 4-3, come back to tie it in the sixth, fall behind in the eighth, tie it in the ninth and win it in the 10th. Pilots starter Matthew Sanchez came into the game red-hot, but the Oilers got to him for his first run in 17 innings in the bottom of the third. Connor McCord walked with the bases loaded for the first run, then Giancarlos Servin had a two-run double for a 3-0 lead. Oilers starter Jacob Reed was solid, going six innings and giving up eight hits and four runs — one earned. The Pilots rallied on Reed
in the fifth, with Matt Ottino knocking in two for his 10th and 11th RBIs of this series. Zach Morgan then singled in Ottino, who had multiple hits in each game of the series, for a 4-3 lead. The Oilers knotted the game at four in the sixth, starting the inning with three straight singles. Skyler Messinger singled to tie the game, but the Pilots brought in closer Hunter Rigsby to work out of the one-out, bases-loaded jam. In the eighth, Ottino struck again, singling and stealing second. EJ Andrews, who had the gamewinning hit Sunday, then singled in Ottino. In the ninth, the Oilers were able to get to Higsby for his first run of the season when Servin singled to
score Victor Carlino. In the 10th, Andrews, normally an outfielder, was brought in for his second appearance of the season and the Oilers pounced. Drew Thorpe led off with a double and scored on a single by Messinger. Bringing more good news to the Oilers was the work of relievers Jonathan Carlos and Heath Olive, who had been battling injuries. They combined to pitch four innings and yield one run, with Olive getting the win. The win was needed after a tough, 3-2 Sunday loss for the Oilers. Oilers head coach Kyle Brown has lost eight players due to injury and a few other reasons in the last week, though Carlos and Olive
Peninsula Oilers starter Eric Reardon delivers to the Anchorage Glacier Pilots on Sunday at Coral Seymour Memorial Park in Kenai. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
were able to play Monday. titude and develop the kids “For me, I’m just trying that are here,” Brown said. See OILERS, page A7 to maintain a positive at-
Ostrander races the best Kenai Central grad finishes 13th at Prefontaine Classic Staff report Peninsula Clarion
The No. 29 Sprint Car of Aaron McGahan features the slogan, “Smoke Tires, Not Drugs”, Saturday before a heat race at Twin Cities Raceway in Kenai. (Photo by Joey Klecka/Peninsula Clarion)
Putting spotlight on addiction On hot, dusty night of racing, McGahan promotes Racing for Recovery By JOEY KLECKA Peninsula Clarion
Mashing the gas and ripping the fence at Twin City Raceway in Kenai will get the adrenaline pumping for any race car driver. For Nikiski’s Aaron McGahan, it has also served as a useful tool for battling addiction and helping others who suffer the same plight. McGahan is the founder of Racing for Recovery, a fledgling organization for those working through addiction. “We use racing to help people,” McGahan said Saturday in the pit area at the three-eighths-mile dirt oval. McGahan said the mission of Racing for Recovery is to use racing to unite people who have suffered through addiction. McGahan said he plans to purchase a piece of land near the raceway on the Kenai Spur Highway and use an existing structure as a sober living house. He hopes that those struggling with addiction will be able to stay at the location to sort out their lives. “When they make that decision, they can come to us,” he said. McGahan, 41, is a second-generation racer who currently pilots the No. 29 Sprint Car at Twin City Raceway. His father, Elton, drives the No. 74 Sprint machine, and on Saturday, won all three heats going away. Aaron McGahan cracked a rear end casing in the first heat of the night and was forced to retire. Saturday saw four divisions sling dirt — the A-Stocks, Legends, Sprint Cars and a new category called Dollar Stocks, which resembles more of a group of buddies rallying a collection of junk cars in their backyard. McGahan used the night of racing to promote RFR, and his Sprint Car displayed on one side the slogan, “Smoke Tires, Not Drugs,” and on the other, dozens of names written by those that have experienced and recovered from addiction. McGahan explained that he struggled with alcohol abuse as a young man and it consumed his life. “I was a fifth a day kind of guy,”
McGahan explained. On the morning of Oct. 23, 2015, McGahan said he was hit head-on by a drunk driver. McGahan himself was sober. The accident played a key role in forcing McGahan to realize why addiction is something he had to tackle. Starting Feb. 9, 2016, McGahan became sober with the help of his girlfriend and mother, and hopped a flight to a rehab facility in Texas for several months. “They said it usually takes people days to settle in and deal with it,” he said. “I was like, ‘No, let’s go now!’ and we got into the groups.” When he came home to Nikiski, McGahan continued going to meetings and re-establishing friendships, and began working on his beloved 1964 MG Model B, an English roadster. “A buddy of mine asked me one day, ‘When are you going to race for recovery?’” he recounted. “It hit home, because racing’s always been a part of my family.” Since the creation of RFR, McGahan said he has taken every opportunity to get the word out to those that need it. He said during the annual Trunk or Treat event last Halloween in Soldotna, he set up the car to be visited by trick-or-treaters. McGahan said he counted 456 kids that got to check out the race car and get their photo taken with it, which also gives their parents the opportunity to learn about Racing for Recovery. The night featured a slew of gritty racing. With the recent heat wave and hazy skies from the Swan Lake fire, the dirt track required frequent dousings from the water truck, and even then, the track dried up quickly, making for a dusty evening. In the A-Stock division, Soldotna’s Dustin Bass swept the night with two heat wins and the feature victory. In the first heat, Bass emerged the winner over Jeremy Herr in the 1/5 car, then Bass passed Nikiski’s Mady Stichal with just three laps to go in heat two for the win.
Stichal, 15, started racing last year with help from her Nikiski family, and said she is the first of her family to get into racing. Stichal drives the No. 95 machine designed to imitate the Lightning McQueen character from the Disney film “Cars,” and said she decided she wanted to be a racer as a young girl watching racing movies like “Cars,” “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby,” and the classic “Days of Thunder.” “My family puts in the money to help my dream,” Stichal explained. “I’m trying to get into Sprint Cars, then maybe one day NASCAR.” Stichal has picked up two victories in her time racing at Twin City, both earlier this month in a heat race and a feature. In the Legends class, the action got fierce as Brent Romagoux topped Ty Torkelson in the first race and Bryan Barber took the second heat over Jimmie Hale. The second heat saw David Kusmider spin twice in the No. 55, even while taking the lead between both incidents. Kusmider was simply relieved to avoid colliding with the outside metal wall, just two weeks after pounding the Turn 2 guardrail. Kusmider said he and Romagoux, driver of the No. 6 car, clashed in a heat race two weeks ago, leading to his brutal meeting with the wall. “(Romagoux) passed me on the outside, I went on the inside and passed him back, then he came into Turn 2 there and passed me going for the inside,” Kusmider recalled. “He hit the bumps and knocked me into the wall, and the car bounced off the wall, his car hit the back of my car and spun me like a helicopter in the air. Killed both cars.” Kusmider said he had to replace most of the front end of the car, including part of the frame, costing him around $1,200, although he said the time spent fixing it meant more. “It’s mostly just labor,” Kusmider said. “It probably got about 60 or 70 hours of labor. My two buddies passed me today so it didn’t go fast enough.”
Allie Ostrander, a 2015 graduate of Kenai Central High School, finished 13th in the 3,000-meter steeplechase Sunday at the Prefontaine Classic in Palo Alto, California. In early June, the redshirt junior at Boise State became the first woman to win three straight NCAA Division I steeplechase crowns with her personal-best time of 9 minutes, 37.73 seconds. Sunday marked a step up in competition to the best the world has to offer. Ostrander slashed her personal best to 9:31.44 in finishing 13th and losing her undefeated status in the steeplechase. The race was won by Beatrice Chepkoech of Kenya in 8:55.58, the best time in the world this season. A little under a year ago, Chepkoech set the world record in the event at 8:44.32. Emma Coburn of the
United States finished second in 9:04.90, recovering from a fall during the race. Coburn won the steeple at the 2017 World Championships in London and also earned a bronze medal in the steeple in the 2016 Olympics. The U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association said after the race that Ostrander’s new personal best put her seventh on the list of steeples run by a college athlete at any meet. Thursday, Ostrander was named to the Google Cloud Academic All-America Cross Country/Track and Field First Team, announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America. Ostrander earned the honor for the second straight year. Ostrander graduated with a degree in kinesiology in May, finishing with a 4.0 cumulative grade-point average.
Bill Miller tourney opens play today Staff report Peninsula Clarion
The Bill Miller Big Fish Wood Bat Tournament opens today at Coral Seymour Memorial Park in Kenai with four games. At 10 a.m., Napoleon, Ohio, plays against Auburn, Rhode Island. At 1 p.m., Eagle River plays against the Post 20 Twins. At 4 p.m., Eagle River plays against Napoleon. At 7 p.m., Auburn plays against the Twins. Wednesday, still at Seymour Park, sees Eagle River play Auburn at 10 a.m. and the Twins face off with Napoleon at 1 p.m. On the Fourth of July at Seymour Park, the championship game is slated for 9 a.m. and the third-place
game will be at noon. Sunday, Napoleon defeated Auburn for the BP Invitational crown at Mulcahy Stadium in Anchorage. The Post 300 River Bandits tied the tournament record with a third title. Napoleon was back at the BP Invitational for the 10th time, the most by an Outside team in the tournament’s 25-year history. The Post 300 River Bandits have qualified for the Legion World Series twice, including in 2013, when they also won the BP Invitational. The River Bandits also have a Bill Miller title in their history. The Post 20 Twins enter the tournament playing their best baseball of the season and riding a 10-game unbeaten streak.
Klay to stay with Warriors By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer
Klay Thompson is staying home with Golden State. Jimmy Butler finally has a new home in Miami. And the wait continues for Kawhi Leonard. Thompson announced his decision to stay with the Golden State Warriors
for $190 million over the next five years, meaning the five-time reigning Western Conference champions have their ‘Splash Brothers’ backcourt of Thompson and Stephen Curry locked up long-term. Thompson made the announcement on social media, using the hashtag “Warrior4life.” See NBA, page A7