FARGO, N.D. — In a deciding game three matchup of the American Association Division Playoffs, The Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks beat the Winnipeg Goldeyes, 7-3, on Saturday. The RedHawks now advance to West Division Championship Series and will face the Kansas City Monarchs in the best-of-three series, beginning Monday, September 12, at Newman Outdoor Field.
The first inning started promising for the hometown ‘Hawks as lefty Peyton Wigginton got the start in Game 3 and was solid as the first three batters for Winnipeg went down in order. F-M’s offense started hot out of the gate as Peter Maris had a leadoff walk and as all-star third baseman Leo Pina belted a double to advance Maris, giving the RedHawks two baserunners with one out.
John Silviano was up next, hit a sac-fly, and scored Maris to give the RedHawks an early 1-0 lead. But the bats weren’t finished, as the next at-bat was Manny Boscan, who crushed a home run to right-center field, giving F-M an early lead. Winnipeg’s starting pitcher Freisis Adames managed to get out of the inning but allowed three runs on three hits and faced seven RedHawks batters.
Wigginton cruised through the second inning until Logan Hill got the Goldeye’s first hit of the game with a single, but Winnipeg couldn’t do anything more as Kevin Lachance ended the top of the side with a putout.
The RedHawks held a 3-0 lead through two, but the Goldeyes would get a runner on base when Reggie Pruitt Jr. hit a leadoff double in the top of the third. Michael Crouse followed up with an RBI single that scored Pruitt from third to cut the lead to two. Then, Winnipeg’s third baseman Ian Sagdal hit a 2-run homer and tying the game at three runs apiece.
The game remained tied as the rookie Wigginton, who looked like a seasoned veteran, held the Goldeyes to five hits through five innings. He would return in the sixth to face two Winnipeg batters as Jacob Rhinesmith hit into a 4-6-3 double play. However, the RedHawks decided to go to the bullpen early and brought in reliever Reid Birlingmair for his first postseason appearance. The Illinois native would get the final out by striking out Logan Hill.
Wigginton ended his postseason appearance with a no-decision after pitching in 5.2 innings, giving up three runs (all earned) on five hits with three strikeouts and three walks.
Meanwhile, Adames would continue to pitch for the Goldeyes and stay in the game through five innings. But after giving up a walk to start the bottom of the sixth, Adames was pulled from the game and replaced by Tasker Strobel.
In the seventh inning, with the score tied at three, F-M decided to go to the pen again and brought in Joe Jones after Birlingmair gave up a single by Kevin Lachance. The hard-throwing Jones struck out the next two Goldeyes batters that ended the inning.
But the game would open in the bottom of the seventh when the potent RedHawks offense exploded and scored three more runs, with Maris hitting another RBI single. Strobel came out after walking postseason all-star Drew Ward and loading the bases. Winnipeg brought Erasmo Pinales in to pitch to Pina, who hit his second double of the night, scoring Maris and Correa to give the RedHawks a 6-3 lead. Pinales would intentionally walk John Silviano and struck out Boscan and Olund to get out of the inning.
The RedHawks lead would extend to four in the bottom of the eighth as Christian Correa hit an RBI single that scored Evan Alexander from second. Alexander, who was hit by a pitch, got his league-leading third stolen base of the playoffs.
The RedHawks would turn to Alex DuBord to close the game out as he retired the first two Winnipeg batters. The league’s leader in saves finished off the Goldeyes by striking out two and giving the RedHawks the win in the best-of-three series.
The RedHawks advance to their second division championship series in two years as they face the Kansas City Monarchs in a rematch of the AAPB Finals from 2021. The Monarchs are the overall number one seed by edging out the RedHawks in a deciding win on the last day of the regular season. Kansas City swept the Lincoln Saltdogs in the first round of the 2022 AAPB Division Playoffs. Game one is set for 6:30 p.m. on Monday at Newman Outdoor Field as the RedHawks will host one game in this series before traveling to Kansas City for Game 2 and Game 3, if necessary. All games at Legends Field will also start at 6:30 p.m.
2022 AAPB West Division Championship Series – #2 F-M RedHawks vs #1 Kansas City Monarchs:
Game 1 Monday, September 12 Newman Outdoor Field – 6:30 p.m.
Game 2 Wednesday, September 14 Legends Field – 6:30 p.m.
Game 3* Thursday, September 15 Legends Field – 6:30 p.m. (*if necessary)
This will be the 4th postseason meeting all-time between the RedHawks and Kansas City as the Monarchs lead all time playoff series, 6-3, over Fargo-Moorhead.
2008 Northern League Semifinal vs. Kansas City (0–3 L)
2010 Northern League Championship vs. Kansas City (3–0 W)
2021 American Association Championship vs. Kansas City (0-3 L)
