Fish fry Redhawks

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This article was published 12/09/2024 (416 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Goldeyes are going trophy fishing.

A clutch 3-1 victory over the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks on Thursday night at Blue Cross Park sends the squad to the American Association championship final for the first time in seven years.

They’ll face the Kane County Cougars in a best-of-five series that goes Saturday and Sunday in Illinois and then shifts back to Winnipeg for the duration, with Game 3 next Tuesday night at the downtown diamond and Games 4 and 5, if necessary, the following two nights.

This winner-takes-all between two fierce rivals in front of 2,646 fans wasn’t for the faint of heart.

Goldeyes starter Mitch Lambson, the league’s 2019 pitcher of the year, turned back the clock on a night his team truly needed it. The 34-year-old lefty from California went six and two-thirds innings, giving up one run on three hits while striking out 11 Redhawks batters.

“Feeling great. What a game. What a game,” a champagne-soaked Lambson said on the field just moments after the final out was recorded. “We battled and came out on top. We’ve got a great team and kept fighting the whole time.”

Lambson was a key part of Winnipeg’s rotation in 2017 when the Fish won a second consecutive championship and fourth in franchise history. He spent another two years with the Goldeyes before taking his talents to Mexico. However, a reunion earlier this summer was in the cards, with Lambson joining the team in August for the drive to the post-season.

“You know that pressure is there, but when you get to the field you try to slow it down, it’s just a game, and go out there and just go one pitch at a time,” Lambson said of managing pressure.

“I gave us a chance to win. That’s my job. Shout-out to Rob (Emery) behind the plate, he did an amazing job back there.”

The bullpen came up big, too, with reliever Nick Trogrlic-Iverson recording four outs and Winnipeg’s Ben Onyshko working the ninth to get the save. It wasn’t without some serious tension, as a pair of one-out singles had the tying run on base. A strike out and a fly out sealed the deal, triggering a chaotic on-field celebration.

“I don’t have a ton of words for it, to be honest. Really surreal moment,” Onyshko told the Free Press. “Obviously growing up here and watching games as as kid, that was one of the most special moments of my baseball career, to finish that game.”

The 27-year-old was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in 2018 and was pitching Double-A with the organization when they released him earlier this summer. His hometown club came calling, and Onyshko has been sensational ever since. He had a 1.24 earned-run-average over 43.2 innings in the regular-season.

“It’s crazy how well things can work out,” said Onyshko. “I couldn’t have dreamed earlier this year when I was still there that I’d be here closing out playoff games in front of a hometown crowd filled with so many family members and friends. It’s been a great turnaround.’

After a 10-1 victory in Game 1 on Monday in Fargo, Winnipeg jumped out to a 3-0 lead through three innings of Wednesday’s Game 2. However, the Redhawks rallied for five straight to send this series the distance.

The Goldeyes weren’t able to muster a whole lot on Thursday, but ultimately got the job done.

Their first hit of the day came in the fourth inning as Miles Simington crushed a loud double off the wall in centrefield. Simington advanced to third on a wild pitch, then was cashed in courtesy of a perfectly-executed safety squeeze by Emery.

The 1-0 lead didn’t last long as Redhawks third-baseman Michael Hallquist hit a solo home run to lead off the fifth in what would be the only blemish against Lambson, who threw 111 pitches on the night.

Winnipeg has shown a remarkable ability this year to string together hits, and they did that in the sixth inning as four straight batters stroked singles with one out. Edwin Arroyo plated one run with his, but that’s all Winnipeg could muster as Max Murphy — stuck in a two-for-20 rut to start the post-season — grounded into a double play.

The Goldeyes would load the bases again in the seventh inning — this time with two outs — but couldn’t add to their lead. However, first-baseman Jake McMurray came through in a big way in the bottom of the eighth, belting a solo shot on to Waterfront Drive to give his club a bit more breathing room.

“Awesome for him,” manager Logan Watkins said of the 24-year-old rookie, who had two homers in 81 regular-season games. “He’s been in big moments. Two years ago at Oral Roberts he was in the College World Series playing in front of huge crowds and on TV. He’s a younger guy and this doesn’t overwhelm him.”

It’s been a dream season for Watkins, as the first-year skipper took the Goldeyes from dead last to first place in the West Division and was named the league’s manager of the year earlier this week. Now, he’s got a pair of playoff series wins under his belt — Winnipeg beat Sioux Falls two games to one in the first-round best-of-three — with one large one looming.

“That would be incredible,” said Watkins.

“It’s been a great year. The only thing I’ll take credit for is bringing all these guys here. I basically just tried to assemble the best roster possible and let these guys take it from there. And they’ve done that. I really can’t say enough about them. We’ve had faith in them all year, even through a couple ups and downs. But when we play good baseball we’re really tough to beat.”

The Goldeyes were without infielder Ramon Bramasco on Thursday after he suffered a hamstring injury legging out a double the previous night. He’s one of the team’s best hitters and had been eight-for-20 (.400) so far in the playoffs. Watkins is hoping he might be able to make a quick recovery.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X: @mikemcintyrewpg