St. Paul 11, New Jersey 2 — Box Score
With today’s attendance of 7, 883, the St. Paul Saints have had 404,528 fans come through the gates at CHS Field this season, shattering their old league record of 297,834. The North Division Champs gave the home fans one final regular-season show as they beat the New Jersey Jackals of the CanAm League 11-2.
The Saints took control early as they built a 6-0 lead in the first five innings. The Jackals got on the board in the top of the sixth when RF D’Vontrey Richardson tripled home LF Matt Helms and then scored when 3B Jared Schlehuber bounced out. But the Saints responded in the seventh with four more runs – three coming on a SS Steve Nikorak home run – to remain comfortably out in front.
The Jackals will see the Quebec Capitales in the first round of the CanAm League playoffs and that best-of-five series is set to start Wednesday. St. Paul will also begin its playoff slate on Wednesday when they play at Sioux City.
Laredo 2, Sioux City 1 — Box Score
The Laredo Lemurs scored a pair of runs in the fifth inning and that proved to be enough as they dropped the Sioux City Explorers 2-1 on the final day of the regular season. Both teams will continue their season on Wednesday in the first round of the American Association playoffs as the Explorers host the Saints and the Lemurs host the Wingnuts.
Sioux City opened the scoring in the top of the third inning when CF Matty Johnson – the 2015 defensive Player of the Year – singled home LF Tim Colwell. In the decisive fifth, 3B Juan Silverio scored when 2B Ty Forney singled to right field and in the next at bat, 1B/P Roger Bernal scored when P Leondy Perez single up the middle. For the game, All-Star SS Noah Perio had a pair of hits to lead his team. Fellow All-Star RF Michael Lang also recorded a hit. For the Lemurs, Bernal and C Kevin Taylor each went 2-for-3.
Despite the loss, the Explorers finished the season 75-25, setting a new American Association record for most wins in a season. Wichita set the record last season with 73 wins.
Wichita 4, Grand Prairie 2 — Box Score
The Wichita Wingnuts scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to squeeze past the Grand Prairie AirHogs 4-2 in the regular-season finale.
The Wingnuts struck first when LF Harrison Kain scored on an error in the second inning. The AirHogs tied the score in fourth inning when C Michael Pair doubled home 3B Victor Dias. Grand Prairie took the lead in the top of the seventh as CF Justin Byrd singled home SS Miguel Castano but that lead was short-lived. In the bottom of the frame, C Brent Dean scored on an error to tie the game and SS Leo Vargas scored on a sac fly by 2B Taylor Smart to give the Wingnuts back the lead. CF Nick Van Stratten hit a solo home run in the next at bat to pad the lead.
For the game both Byrd and Kain had a game-high three hits, while Pair, Van Stratten and Dean each had two. The Wingnuts will see the Laredo Lemurs on Wednesday in the first round of the American Association playoffs.
Gary SouthShore 9, Kansas City 7 — Box Score
The Gary SouthShore RailCats gave up five runs in the first inning but came all the way back with help of an eighth-inning grand slam from RF Adam Taylor to beat the Kansas City T-Bones 9-7.
In the regular-season finale, the RailCats and the T-Bones combined for 27 hits – 15 by Kansas City and 12 by Gary SouthShore. There were 16 players – eight on each team – that recorded at least one hit in the game. CF Anthony Cheky led his team with a 3-for-3 performance to go along with a pair of RBI. Taylor went 2-for-5 with five RBI and DH Spencer Mahoney went 2-for-2 with three runs scored.
For the T-Bones, both 3B Nate Tenbrink and LF Adam Bailey went 3-for-5. Bailey and DH Kyle Robinson each had home runs in the game.
Winnipeg 13, Lincoln 7 — Box Score
The Winnipeg Goldeyes ended the season with a bang as they beat the Lincoln Saltdogs 13-7 in game where the two teams combined for seven home runs.
For the Goldeyes, SS Casio Grider left the yard twice as he went 4-for-5 with four RBI and scored three runs. CF Reggie Abercrombie, who went 3-for-5 with three RBI and three runs scored, as well as RF Josh Massola and DH Ryan Babineau also hit round-trippers in the contest. Mazzola’s blast, which was a three-run shot in the second inning, was his 20th of the year. Grider and Abercrombie went yard in back-to-back at bats in the first.
For the Saldogs, 2B Aaron Payne and 1B C.J. Ziegler each had home runs but it was LF Mitch Canham that lead the team in hits as he went 3-for-4 with an RBI.
Amarillo 10, Fargo-Moorhead 7 — Box Score
The Amarillo Thunderheads scored five runs in the eighth inning to take control of the contest on their way to a 10-7 win against the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks.
Amarillo entered the eighth inning trailing 6-5 but quickly changed that. After the first three at bats in the top of the eighth, the bases were already loaded. SS Tyler Urps, C Corey Bass and 3B Christian Ibarra drew back-to-back-to-back walks to plate the first three runs of the inning. Urps scored on a sac fly from 1B Rene Leveret and bass scored the fifth run of the rally on a single by RF Ricardo Rodriguez.
For the game, three Thunderheads had two-hit afternoons including CF Dexter Kjerstad and 2B Geraldo Valentin both of whom had two RBI. For the RedHawks, SS Zach Penprase led the way with a 3-for-5 day with a pair of RBI. LF Chad Mozingo also added two RBI.
Sioux Falls 5, Joplin 1 — Box Score
After allowing a run on three hits in the first inning, Sioux Falls starting pitcher Shawn Blackwell settled in and went the distance giving the Canaries a 5-1 win in the final game of the season.
In the final eight innings, Blackwell allowed just five hits and did not issue a walk. He also had three strikeouts. At the plate, four different Canaries accounted for all of the team’s offense. RF Jason Repko scored once and had one hit. SS Jerome Pena led the way with a 4-for-4 performance to go along with his three runs scored. DH David Bergin and LF Brian Humphries each went 2-for-4 in the game and Humphries had a team-high three RBI.
For the Blasters, Mitch Glasser played in a different position each inning defensively but with the home team leading after eight and a half, he was denied the chance to complete the lineup. The Blasters finished their inaugural season with a record of 55-45.
