Anchorage Bucs named 2024 ABL Champs after rain wipes out Top of the World Series

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Rain, rain, go away, we want to crown an Alaska Baseball League Champion today.

Well, Alaskans got their wish Thursday, both in terms of the rain receding and an ABL Champion being decided, but not in the way many would have preferred to have it played out.

The Alaska Baseball League announced the cancellation of the Top of the World Series between the Mat-Su Miners and the Anchorage Bucs after record rainfall in the city.

”We decided to go ahead and cancel it for the safety of these student-athletes,” Bucs General Manager Shawn Maltby said over the phone. “I am not putting it on my conscious to put a player in the outfield and if they slip on that wet grass and they — god forbid — tear an ACL or something like that, I don’t want that on my conscious ... It is what it is, you hate to not finish it out like we weren’t able to do, but safety and sending these kids home healthy is a key for us.”

The Bucs, who were the best team in the league over the summer with a 29-12 record, were named the 2024 ABL Champions.

“Did we want to complete the Top of the World Series Championship? Absolutely, but at the end of the day, winning the league is our ultimate goal and we were able to accomplish it with our overall record in the regular season,” Maltby said.

Maltby added that it was a mutual decision between all parties involved.

The best-of-three series was scheduled to begin on Tuesday, but after weather postponed the contest, the league pivoted towards a doubleheader Wednesday to make up for games one and two.

The doubleheader was then postponed as playing in unconditional conditions were still unsafe, so the two teams agreed to a one-game, winner-take-all champion on Thursday, which was ultimately canceled in the afternoon.

The Alaska Baseball League is made up of collegiate players from all over the country who are preparing to return to their respective schools this fall.

”When I got to the field [Thursday], it was completely underwater, I mean literally behind shortstop. I’ve got pictures of a player that’s standing in an inch or two inches of rain on the turf,” Maltby said. “There was standing water on the warning track and in the outfield.”

Offensively, the Bucs led the league in nearly every statistical category with the most hits (310), RBI (183), drawn walks (215), batting average (.248), on-base-percentage (.373) and slugging (.326).

Defensively, they committed the fewest errors while boasting the lowest ERA on the mound (2.67).

”Early on, our team jelled so quickly ... I think when you have teams that jell super quick like they did, and our pitching staff, we were able to really throw the ball this year, which was great, and offensively, we swung it okay too,” Maltby said. “It comes down to both sides of the ball.

If you think about it, pitching and defense wins championships, and we were able to do that really well this year and I was super excited and happy for those guys to be able to do that really well.”

This is the Bucs’ 10th ABL title and first since 2019.