Speedy Upshaw scores decisive run as Cougars beat Fish in extra innings

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This article was published 14/09/2024 (413 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Speed kills in baseball.

The Winnipeg Goldeyes were reminded of that Saturday night as they suffered a tough 2-1 loss in extra innings to kick off the American Association Miles Wolff Cup Final.

Both runs scored by the Kane County Cougars in front of 1,616 hometown fans at Northwestern Medicine Field in Geneva, Ill., were sparked by the fast feet of outfielder Armand Upshaw.

The 28-year-old, who led his team with 32 stolen bases in the regular season, got the Cougars on the board in the first inning after walking, swiping second, advancing to third on a throwing error and coming home on a sacrifice fly from teammate and fellow outfielder Cornelius Randolph.

Then Upshaw gave the East Division champs the walk-off victory by beginning the 11th frame with a single, stealing second and then coming home on a base hit that was once again off the bat of Randolph.

In between was a dramatic Goldeyes rally in the top of the ninth inning — they had nobody on base with two outs but strung together back-to-bat hits to tie it up — that ultimately went for naught.

Kane County now leads the best-of-five series 1-0.

The teams will meet again on Sunday afternoon in Illinois (1 p.m.) before the action shifts north to Winnipeg for the duration, with Game 3 set for Tuesday at Blue Cross Park and Games 4 and 5, if necessary, on Wednesday and Thursday.

On paper, this match-up looked to be almost too close to call with offence at a premium. And that’s certainly how the opening game played out, especially with the two aces from the top two pitching teams in the regular season facing each other.

Goldeyes starter Joey Matulovich, who led the league in earned-run average and strikeouts and was recently named the pitcher of the year, went six strong innings while surrendering just two hits, two walks and one unearned run while striking out five.

However, a patient approach from Kane County batters pushed his pitch count up to 98 and forced an early exit.

Winnipeg hitters weren’t nearly as picky, allowing Cougars No. 1 hurler Greg Mahle to cruise through seven scoreless innings with just four hits, a walk and two strikeouts while only tossing 73 pitches.

At that point, it became a battle of the bullpens with both teams calling on four different arms.

Designated hitter Max Murphy, the veteran slugger who led the Goldeyes in home runs and RBI during the regular season, continued his tough post-season by going 0-for-5.

He began his night at the plate by grounding out with a runner on second in the first inning, and finished it up by grounding out in the 10th inning with the go-ahead run standing at third base. Murphy is now 2-for-26 through seven games (.077 average).

If there was a sign this wasn’t going to be the Goldeyes night, how about the fact both centre-fielder Nick Anderson (in the fifth) and RF Roby Enriquez (in the seventh) each missed home runs by just a few feet. Anderson’s went off the top of the wall for a double, while Enriquez’s was tracked down and caught.

Facing clutch closer Tyler Beardsley to start the ninth and in a 1-0 hole, the Fish quickly made two outs and looked cooked. But a seeing-eye single from catcher Rob Emery kept hope alive. He was replaced by pinch-runner Evan Alexander, who motored home when third-baseman Dayson Croes drilled a deep double.

Both teams had good chances from that point on.

Winnipeg got the leadoff batter on to start the 10th and 11th courtesy of singles, then advanced the runners to second with sacrifice bunts. However, they couldn’t cash in.

Kane County got the winning run on base in the bottom of the ninth, 10th and 11th, and third time ended up being the charm.

Relief pitcher Joey Steele shut them down in the ninth, while Winnipegger Ben Onyshko wriggled out of trouble in the 10th. Onyshko was still on the mound in the 11th and ultimately got tagged with the loss.

Winnipeg did get a shot of good news before the game began as infielder Ramon Bramasco got the green light to start.

He suffered a hamstring injury last Wednesday in Game 2 against the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks and was unable to play in Thursday’s winner-take-all Game 3.

Bramasco, who was 8-for-20 in the playoffs so far, got the start at shortstop Saturday and was in the leadoff position. He went 1-for-4 but didn’t entirely look right, especially while running, and was replaced later in the game by Andy Armstrong.

Kane County is now a perfect 5-0 in the playoffs after sweeping Lake Country and Chicago. They’ve only given up six combined runs in those games, and they’ll have all-star starter Jack Fox on the mound Sunday.

Winnipeg, which went the distance in the first two series against Sioux Falls and Fargo-Moorhead, will counter with Canadian Landon Bourassa on the mound.

All games can be watched for free online at www.aabaseball.tv.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X: @mikemcintyrewpg