It was a late night thanks to rain not cooperating in Kansas City, but the three remaining first round series came to a close. We saw one era come to a close, another continue onward, and the league’s top team survive a scare to advance.
Milwaukee 4, Cleburne 0
When their season depended on it, the Milwaukee Milkmen leaned on one of the very best pitching staffs in the American Association and it delivered.
Angelo Cabral spun 5.0 innings of two-hit shutout ball, Matt Givin fired 2.0 scoreless frames, and Brady Puckett and Ryan Boyer each threw scoreless innings to close it out. Cleburne was held to just six hits, all singles.
Cleburne starter John Baker was sharp for three innings, but did not make it out of a three-run fourth. Jeremy Rivas stroked a two-run double, then Charlie Marion added an RBI single to provide what proved to be an insurmountable cushion. For good measure, Chase Waddell tacked on an RBI single for the final tally in the sixth.
The Milkmen will now try to prevent Kane County from becoming the first team to reach three straight Miles Wolff Cup Finals. For Cleburne, tonight was the 914th—and likely final—game they will play in the American Association before moving on to the Frontier League in 2027.
Kane County 5, Lake Country 3
In the other East series, Kane County kept alive their quest for an unprecedented three-peat by denying Lake Country their first-ever playoff series win thanks to a pair of two-out, bases-loaded hits.
The DockHounds struck first in the second on a Jake Allgeyer two-out RBI single and held that lead through three perfect innings from Sebastian Rodriguez. In the fourth, Rodriguez ran into a bases-loaded, no-out jam and nearly escaped it, but a two-out, three-run triple from Matt Bottcher put the Cougars in front 3-1.
Lake Country fought back, though, as Mario Feliciano immediately answered with a solo homer, then Anthony Garcia’s RBI single in the sixth knotted the score at three apiece.
It stayed that way until the eighth when Kane County loaded the bases with one out. Once again, the DockHounds came one out shy of escaping the jam, as Jairus Richards gave the Cougars the lead back with a two-run single.
The Cougars had to sweat it out in the ninth with two men reaching and the tying run reaching second, but batting champion Dom Johnson flew out against Reliever of the Year Jake Gozzo to seal Kane County’s date with Milwaukee.
Kansas City 7, Sioux Falls 3
The series may have ultimately ended with the winner we expected, but it was a much more even fight than many expected.
Sioux Falls struck first and after falling behind pulled back even in the sixth, though a Hudson Head RBI single in the bottom half of the frame ultimately pushed the Monarchs ahead for good as they survived a valiant fight from a Sioux Falls team that KC took 12 of 13 from during the regular season.
Grady Mee put the Birds in front with a second-inning, two-run home run, only for Onix Vega to respond with a similar blow in the bottom of the frame. A few batters later, Tyler Gentry gave the Monarchs the lead with an RBI single.
KC starter Michael Mariot held the 3-2 lead until the sixth, when Mike Hart crushed a one-out solo homer to draw the Canaries back even. The Monarchs, though once again answered, as Head’s two-out RBI knock pushed Kansas City in front 4-3.
In the eighth, the Monarchs put the game out of reach by loading the bases with no outs and pushing across a tally on an Jose Torres sacrifice fly, then two more on a Luken Baker single.
From there, the Monarchs bullpen slammed the door, with Tyler Myrick, Jack Walker, and Durbin Feltman each spinning a scoreless frame to send Kansas City off to Fargo for the West Finals.
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