Homer’s Mose Hayes isn’t some token local player in the Alaska Baseball League; in fact, the Peninsula Oilers probably gave him the game ball Tuesday as a token of their appreciation.

The right-hander came out of the bullpen to pitch six shutout innings and earn the winning decision as the Oilers outlasted the Anchorage Glacier Pilots 2-1 in 11 innings at Seymour Park in Kenai.

Hayes struck out six batters while allowing two base knocks and holding the Pilots hitless in five at-bats with runners in scoring position, including the tying run on second base to end the game.

He worked around an inherited runner in the sixth, a walk in the seventh, a single in the eighth, an error in the ninth, a single and error in the 10th and a leadoff walk in the 11th.

Hayes is something of an escape artist, a pitcher capable of making scary situations evaporate without necessarily having scary stuff. Rather than bringing the heat, the 5-foot-10, 175-pounder mixes it up by moving the ball around the zone and changing speeds to keep batters off balance.

Sounds simple enough but it’s surgical and requires pinpoint control and a strong nerve.

Hayes, who was fifth in the ABL regular season last year with a 2.70 ERA, improved his personal record to 7-3 with the Oilers since 2022. He racked up 58 strikeouts in 69 innings during that time and established himself as the most productive Alaskan in the ABL.

This was Hayes’ first time pitching since last month when he threw a gem in the NAIA Tournament for Faulkner University, going into the ninth inning to spearhead a 6-3 win over nationally ranked Georgia Gwinnett that moved Faulkner within one game of reaching the NAIA World Series.

Hayes’ 122-pitch masterpiece saw him throw six shutout frames and scatter eight hits over 8.1 innings as he shut down the No. 2-ranked team in the country.