2024
The American Association accomplished something in 2024 that they had only done once before (from 2008-10): keep the same team lineup intact for three years in a row.
The season saw Cleburne win their first-ever division title in the East, which also saw Kane County’s best season since joining the AA tie them with Chicago for second. After crashing to the finish line and losing a playoff berth on a tiebreaker a year ago, Lake Country got the job done, posting their first winning season and reaching the postseason for the first time in their third year of operation.
Winnipeg pulled a worst-to-first act in the West Division, nudging out Sioux Falls by a game for the division title, though the Birds still made it back-to-back playoff appearances for the first time in their 32-year history. Notably, defending champion Kansas City dealt with persistent field issues all season, being forced to reschedule and relocate several games, while stumbling to 54 losses in their first losing season since 2016 and snapping a string of five straight playoff appearances. Fargo-Moorhead and Sioux City slipped in ahead of the Monarchs.
After winning Game 1 on the road, Cleburne dropped two games at home to Chicago to lose in the first round, while Kane County swept Lake Country, then did the same to Chicago to reach their first Finals. Out west, Winnipeg and Fargo-Moorhead won their first-round series in three games each, then the archrivals met in the two clubs’ biggest matchup in over a decade, with the Goldeyes winning the decisive Game 3 north of the border.
However, they were stopped in their tracks by the Kane County Cougars, who won two extremely low-scoring pitching duels at home (including taking a no-hitter into the ninth inning of Game 2), then winning the title in front of a large and hostile road crowd. The Cougars pulled off the first 7-0 playoff run in AA history, allowing just nine runs total in the postseason to win their first Miles Wolff Cup.
Final Standings (Click on team name for full schedule)
East Division
| Team | W | L | Win Pct. | GB | Runs Scored | Runs Allowed | Attend. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cleburne Railroaders–y | 60 | 40 | .600 | — | 656 | 542 | 82,134 |
| Kane County Cougars-x | 55 | 45 | .550 | 5.0 | 587 | 512 | 274,694 |
| Chicago Dogs-x | 55 | 45 | .550 | 5.0 | 527 | 527 | 220,500 |
| Lake Country DockHounds-x | 53 | 47 | .530 | 7.0 | 580 | 521 | 87,440 |
| Milwaukee Milkmen | 49 | 51 | .490 | 11.0 | 543 | 573 | 80,844 |
| Gary SouthShore RailCats | 30 | 70 | .300 | 30.0 | 397 | 668 | 152,985 |
West Division
| Team | W | L | Win Pct. | GB | Runs Scored | Runs Allowed | Attend. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winnipeg Goldeyes-y | 56 | 43 | .566 | — | 537 | 400 | 183,046 |
| Sioux Falls Canaries-x | 55 | 44 | .556 | 1.0 | 510 | 490 | 85,475 |
| Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks-x | 53 | 47 | .530 | 3.5 | 518 | 509 | 150,965 |
| Sioux City Explorers–x | 49 | 51 | .490 | 7.5 | 531 | 589 | 60,449 |
| Kansas City Monarchs | 46 | 54 | .460 | 10.5 | 510 | 505 | 69,814 |
| Lincoln Saltdogs | 38 | 62 | .380 | 18.5 | 446 | 506 | 162,132 |
Playoffs
East First Round — CHICAGO WINS 2-1
| Date | Score | W | L | SV | Attend. |
| 9/4/24 | Cleburne 6 at Chicago 3 | J. Tripp | K. Serwa | D. Bice | 2,047 |
| 9/6/24 | Chicago 4 at Cleburne 0 | C. Curlis | L. Boyd | – | 824 |
| 9/7/24 | Chicago 3 at Cleburne 1 | J. Marciano | D. Bice | – | 717 |
East First Round — KANE COUNTY WINS 2-0
| Date | Score | W | L | SV | Attend. |
| 9/4/24 | Kane County 6 at Lake Country 1 | G. Mahle | B. Conine | – | 791 |
| 9/6/24 | Lake Country 0 at Kane County 1 | S. Stockton | B. Bonnell | T. Beardsley | 1,052 |
West First Round — WINNIPEG WINS 2-1
| Date | Score | W | L | SV | Attend. |
| 9/4/24 | Winnipeg 0 at Sioux Falls 5 | T. Brown | J. Matulovich | – | 1,153 |
| 9/6/24 | Sioux Falls 3 at Winnipeg 7 | N. Trogrlic-Iverson | T. Culbeth | – | 4,700 |
| 9/7/24 | Sioux Falls 3 at Winnipeg 10 | M. Lambson | N. Lang | – | 2,762 |
West First Round — FARGO-MOORHEAD WINS 2-1
| Date | Score | W | L | SV | Attend. |
| 9/4/24 | Fargo-Moorhead 2 at Sioux City 1 | D. Feldman | Z. Willeman | A. DuBord | 344 |
| 9/6/24 | Sioux City 7 at Fargo-Moorhead 1 | K. Marman | C. Davis | – | 2,092 |
| 9/7/24 | Sioux City 5 at Fargo-Moorhead 6 | D. Feldman | J. Sheaks | A. DuBord | 1,256 |
East Finals — KANE COUNTY WINS 2-0
| Date | Score | W | L | SV | Attend. |
| 9/9/24 | Kane County 5 at Chicago 2 | G. Mahle | K. Serwa | T. Beardsley | 2,884 |
| 9/11/24 | Chicago 2 at Kane County 3 | T. Beardsley | J. Marciano | – | 1,312 |
West Finals — WINNIPEG WINS 2-1
| Date | Score | W | L | SV | Attend. |
| 9/9/24 | Winnipeg 10 at Fargo-Moorhead 1 | J. Matulovich | O. Rodriguez | – | 1,358 |
| 9/11/24 | Fargo-Moorhead 5 at Winnipeg 3 | P. Harm | T. Ponticelli | DuBord | 4,745 |
| 9/12/24 | Fargo-Moorhead 1 at Winnipeg 3 | M. Lambson | N. Ball | B. Onyshko | 2,646 |
Miles Wolff Cup Finals — KANE COUNTY WINS 3-0
| Date | Score | W | L | SV | Attend. |
| 9/14/24 | Winnipeg 1 at Kane County 2 (11 innings) | V. Timpanelli | B. Onyshko | – | 1,616 |
| 9/15/24 | Winnipeg 0 at Kane County 1 | J. Fox | L. Bourassa | T. Beardsley | 971 |
| 9/17/24 | Kane County 5, at Winnipeg 3 | C. Carter | Z. Reininger | T. Bearsdley | 5,828 |
Finals MVP: Cornelius Randolph (Kane County) — .500/.538/.583, 6 H, 3 R, 1 2B, 2 RBI
Award Winners
| Player of the Year | Jacob Teter (Chicago) 100 G, .349/.474/.673, 28 2B, 28 HR, 95 RBI, 10 SB |
| Pitcher of the Year | Joey Matulovich (Winnipeg) 11-3, 2.12 ERA, 20 G, 123.1 IP, 145 K, 0.827 WHIP |
| Rookie Hitter of the Year | Ryan Hernandez (Lake Country) 90 G, .295/.359/.593, 17 2B, 29 HR, 92 RBI, 55 R |
| Rookie Pitcher of the Year | Sebastian Rodriguez (Milwaukee) 11-4, 3.71 ERA, 21 G, 2 CG, 114.0 IP, 95 K, 1.219 WHIP |
| Defensive Player of the Year | Hill Alexander (Cleburne) 95 G, 1.000 Fld% in 208 chances, 13 outfield assists |
| Marcus Chiu (Lake Country/Fargo-Moorhead) 80 G, .991 Fld% in 461 chances, played 5 positions | |
| Manager of the Year | Logan Watkins (Winnipeg) 56-43 record, West Division title |
Postseason All-Stars
| Catcher | Jaxx Groshans (Cleburne) 86 G, .284/.412/.479, 80 H, 58 R, 15 HR, 66 RBI, 61 BB |
| First Base | Jacob Teter (Chicago) 100 G, .349/.474/.673, 125 H, 72 R, 28 2B, 28 HR, 95 RBI |
| Second Base | Carter Aldrete (Cleburne) 100 G, .341/.412/.557, 137 H, 89 R, 24 2B, 21 HR, 74 RBI, 20 SB |
| Third Base | Claudio Finol (Kane County) 84 G, .309/.386/.481, 99 H, 58 R, 22 2B, 11 HR, 56 RBI |
| Shortstop | Shed Long (Cleburne) 95 G, .310/.409/.467, 118 H, 76 R, 29 2B, 9 HR, 74 RBI, 16 SB |
| Utility | Dayson Croes (Winnipeg) 93 G, .342/.397/.452, 128 H, 54 R, 22 2B, 5 HR, 51 RBI |
| Outfield | Ismael Alcantara (Fargo-Moorhead) 89 G, .306/.373/.459, 108 H, 72 R, 23 2B, 9 HR, 57 RBI, 70 SB |
| Outfield | Cornelius Randolph (Kane County) 79 G, .342/.447/.527, 100 H, 62 R, 21 2B, 11 HR, 58 RBI |
| Outfield | Hill Alexander (Cleburne) 96 G, .306/.377/.484, 121 H, 65 R, 28 2B, 14 HR, 70 RBI, DPOY |
| Designated Hitter | Ryan Hernandez (Lake Country) 90 G, .295/.359/.593, 103 H, 55 R, 17 2B, 29 HR, 92 RBI |
| Starting Pitcher | Joey Matulovich (Winnipeg) 11-3, 2.12 ERA, 20 G, 123.1 IP, 145 K, 0.827 WHIP, 5.8 H/9 |
| Relief Pitcher | Joey Marciano (Chicago) 5-3, 1.78 ERA, 41 G, 26 SV, 55.2 IP, 74 K, 0.988 WHIP |
All-Star Game
July 23, 2024 at Legends Field – Kansas City, KS
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| East | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 1 |
| West | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 1 |
Box Score
AABaseballFan.com 