Goldpanners Dominate the Midnight Sun Game

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTVF) - On Wednesday, June 21, the 118th Midnight Sun Baseball game took place at Growden Memorial Park in Fairbanks, with the Alaska Goldpanners taking on the Michigan Monarchs.

It was a long night, but for fans of Fairbanks baseball, it was a great night.

The long awaited game was able to avoid the forecasted rain after a small shower before fans were allowed into the park.

The 354th Fighter Squadron from Eielson Air Force Base conducted a fly over as the national anthem concluded.

Keaton Chase started for the Panners in one of the biggest games of the season. He pitched to the fifth inning, only allowing a hit and a single run.

The Monarchs would jump out to the early lead after an error from players colliding on the play.

The Panners would start to take care of business, scoring two runs in the fourth, with another game of back to back RBI doubles to open the scoring from Logan Reddemann and Logan Drummond.

Not satisfied with two, the Panners would add three runs in the sixth to take a four run lead, because of timely hitting and great plate discipline.

The panners would hold the Monarchs scoreless to take the win five to one.

We spoke with Goldpanner head coach Brett Lachemann, how the team had another come from behind win. “Yeah no, that’s kind of been our script lately is we get down early, then come back for a nice win later. I would be happy if we just scored early, got ahead, and stayed ahead the whole game.”

Lachemann continued with, “But our pitching, pitching three hits, one run. I mean, our pitching’s been great all year, and then we’ve played pretty good defense and we’re getting, guys are starting to swing the bat. So, they’ve played well. It’s been fun to watch, and was fun obviously to win tonight.”

We also spoke with Logan Drummond, who has been hot this series, about how he felt about playing in the Midnight Sun game. “Oh it was awesome, great experience, little nervous most people I have ever played in front of in my life. But it was awesome, great experience...”

The game started at 10 p.m. and ended around 1:20 a.m. Many stayed afterwards to celebrate the Goldpanners’ victory, and with that win, the Panners move on to ten wins so far on the campaign for the season, and have no signs of slowing down.

Copyright 2023 KTVF. All rights reserved.