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Stars open Alaska set against Goldpanners
- Updated: July 3, 2026
2026 SAN DIEGO STARS BASEBALL
STARS RETURN TO ALASKA
EastCountySports.com staff report
FAIRBANKS, Alaska — Ten years after their last trip to Fairbanks, the San Diego Stars returned to Alaska this week for a five-game series against one of summer baseball’s most historic programs.
The Stars opened the trip Thursday night at Growden Park, falling to the Alaska Goldpanners, 8-6, in the first game of the series.
The result went against San Diego, but the setting carried plenty of weight for the team.
The Stars and Goldpanners have crossed paths for decades, including meetings at the National Baseball Congress World Series.
For the Stars, the trip also carries the memory of late founder, owner, general manager and manager Mickey Deutschman, who built the program around long summer road trips, tournament baseball, and annual pursuits of high-level semipro competition.
Deutschman, who died in 2020, was the patriarch of the Stars organization. The club continues to play in his honor under current owner and general manager Kelly Ritayik.
Before the series opener, the Stars also joined the Goldpanners in helping with an MLB-sponsored youth clinic in Fairbanks. The Stars players took part in the clinic as part of the club’s return to Alaska.
The Stars nearly made the opener a comeback win.
Alaska scored first with a run in the second inning and added two more in the third on a two-run homer to right field to take a 3-0 lead.
San Diego answered in the fourth. Carter Lockwood singled, Nick Reed drew a bases-loaded walk, and Carson Lewis brought in a run with a sacrifice fly as the Stars tied the game, 3-3.
The Goldpanners moved back in front in the seventh with a two-run double, but the Stars responded again in the eighth. Reed Gunnett doubled to right field to tie the game, 5-5.
Alaska regained control in the bottom of the eighth with three runs, using a double, a single, and a San Diego error to take an 8-5 lead.
The Stars pushed across one more run in the ninth but could not complete the comeback.
Phill Jones led San Diego at the plate, going 3-for-5 with two runs scored. Lockwood added two hits and an RBI. Gunnett doubled and drove in two runs, while Jason Wright doubled and drove in one.
Manny Miranda started for the Stars and worked seven innings, allowing five runs on six hits with three strikeouts and two walks. Rocco Stefonik pitched the eighth.
The Goldpanners finished with nine hits. San Diego had seven hits and committed one error.
The Stars and Goldpanners continue the series Friday night at Growden Park, with first pitch scheduled for 8 p.m. Pacific time.
STARS AND THE MIDNIGHT SUN
The Goldpanners are best known nationally as the longtime host of the Midnight Sun Game, a Fairbanks baseball tradition played around the summer solstice under natural light.
The Stars made their only Midnight Sun Game appearance on June 21, 1994, against the host ‘Panners.
The 2026 Midnight Sun Game was the 121st edition of the event, with the Utah Yaks defeating Alaska, 5-3.
The Goldpanners have hosted the Midnight Sun Game since 1960.
Steele Canyon High alum Alex Vesia, now with the Los Angeles Dodgers, started the 2014 Midnight Sun Game while pitching for the Goldpanners.
