We saw our first advancement, as Fargo-Moorhead finished off a quick two-game sweep of Winnipeg in the opening round, but with a lot of drama to get there.
Here’s a look at how everything played out:
Cleburne 5, Milwaukee 2
Playing on the road once again, Cleburne pitching swayed precariously early, but held up to even the series.
Milwaukee stranded five runners over the first three innings, which Cleburne took advantage of by cashing in a leadoff double by Cody Thomas in the fourth on a sacrifice fly. The Milkmen, though, skipped the on-base traffic in the bottom of the fourth and tied it right back up on a leadoff home run from Jeremy Rivas that even the score an one apiece.
Cleburne answered in the sixth, chasing Milwaukee starter Juan Diaz after 5.2 innings with a clutch two-out, two-run single to give the Railroaders a 3-1 edge.
Cleburne starter Scott Ellis spun 5.0 innings of one-run ball, scattering seven hits and striking out seven. Once he left, Milwaukee immediately cut the deficit in half as Rivas scored on a wild pitch.
However, the Railroaders righted the ship in the seventh, with Aaron Takacs lining a two-run single to give Cleburne a three-run cushion. The Railroaders didn’t give up another hit the rest of the way to force a winner-take-all matchup.
Lake Country 9, Kane County 7
The offenses got going early in this one. After Josh Allen scored in the top of the first on a sacrifice fly for Kane County, the DockHounds answered with four runs in piecemeal fashion as only one hit was recorded, with three walks, a hit batter, and a wild pitch giving Lake Country a 4-1 lead after the opening frame.
In the top of the second, the Cougars answered right back on a two-run home run by Charles Mack to close the gap to one run, but the DockHounds got one right back as Jake Allgeyer stroked a leadoff triple and came home on a sac fly. Lake Country manufactured another rally with two outs, and Peter Zimmerman came through with a grand slam that lifted Lake Country to a 9-3 advantage.
Undeterred, Kane County launched a comeback bid in the fourth. Sam Dexter led off with a home run, then two batters later Cooper Weiss stroked an RBI triple. In the seventh, the Cougars trimmed the deficit to 9-7 on RBI singles from Alex McGarry and Nick Dalessandro.
Kane County did now allow a hit over the final 6.1 innings after the Zimmerman grand slam, but the damage was already done, as the DockHounds held on to force Game 3.
Sioux Falls 3, Kansas City 1
After spending the entire season getting knocked around by Kansas City and allowing runs left and right, Sioux Falls flipped the script by doing the exact opposite as they forced Game 3 by winning a rare pitcher’s duel.
Right out of the gate, Tyler Gentry stayed hot for Kansas City, crushing a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first for his third roundtripper in two games. The Canaries answered back in the top of the third, with Michael Curialle stroking a two-out RBI double to even the score at one apiece.
That was all until the middle innings, thanks in large part to Kansas City’s Jimmy Endersby, who punched out 10 batters over 5.0 innings of one-run ball.
After Endersby left, though, the Birds took their first lead in the top of the sixth, thanks to a Grady Mee RBI single. An inning later, Sioux Falls doubled the lead when Mike Hart came home on an error for a 3-1 lead.
Meanwhile, after Gentry’s longball, Sioux Falls starter Nicolai Arbach flummoxed the Monarchs, allowing a run on just three hits over 6.0 innings while striking out four. Three relievers all tossed hitless innings to even the series for the Birds.
Fargo-Moorhead 6, Winnipeg 5
In front of 5,128 enthusiastic Canadians, Winnipeg was two outs away from sending them home and ready to come back for Game 3. Instead, a big blow from Matt Kroon in the ninth makes the RedHawks the first team to make it through to the Division Finals.
The RedHawks struck first in the top of the second with help from the Winnipeg defense. With two outs and a runner on second, a soft line drive to left was dropped for an error that scored Tucupita Marcano with the first run of the game. Two innings later, Fargo-Moorhead doubled the lead on a Brian Fuentes RBI single.
It stayed 2-0 until the bottom of the fourth, when a groundout brought in the first Winnipeg run and Roby Enriquez swatted a two-out, two-run home run to give the Goldeyes a 3-2 advantage.
Fargo-Moorhead promptly loaded the bases, a jam that Winnipeg nearly escaped, but a fielder’s choice on a potential double-play ball allowed the tying run to score, knotting the score at three apiece in the fifth.
In the seventh, the RedHawks bullpen walked the bases loaded before a fielder’s choice brought home the go-ahead run. Winnipeg couldn’t add on in that frame, but Ray-Patrick Didder provided insurance with a one-out solo shot in the eighth.
Sage Ferguson spun 3.0 scoreless frames out of the bullpen, then handed the ball off to Derrick Cherry for the ninth. After a pair of one-out walks, Kroon deposited a three-run blast to left-center that flipped the entire script.
All of the sudden working with a one-run lead, RedHawks closer Tyler Jeans worked a 1-2-3 ninth to send Fargo-Moorhead to the West Finals.
—
Thanks for reading! Please give me a follow on Twitter/X at @AABaseballFan1 and Instagram at @aabaseballfan
Leave a Reply