Fish ready for first home game

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This article was published 22/05/2019 (2355 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Goldeyes are bringing a winning record home from Texas.

For the second straight year, the Fish kicked off the American Association season with back-to-back series against the two teams from the Lone Star State — the Texas AirHogs and the Cleburne Railroaders.

The Goldeyes won three of four games against the AirHogs before winning two of three against Cleburne to open the season with a 5-2 record. The Fish finished the seven-game trip with an 8-4 loss to the Railroaders on Wednesday afternoon. Last year, the Goldeyes started 4-2 after three-game series against the AirHogs and the Railroaders.

“I think any time you end up with a winning record on the road, it’s good,” Goldeyes outfielder Josh Romanski said after Wednesday’s game. “To be 5-2, it’s a good start. We had a chance at times to win those other two ball games and it just didn’t happen for whatever reason. But, it’s a good start.”

The 5-2 record looks slightly less impressive when you consider Texas and Cleburne were the two worst teams in the league last year, with a combined 58-141 record. But Romanski said both teams are improved, especially the AirHogs, which as of last year made an agreement with the Chinese national team to develop its players. The Texas roster features 30 Chinese players, with 13 of them being put into the lineup on game days. Last year was the first time the Chinese players went through the grind of a 100-game baseball season.

“They’ve definitely gotten a lot better. And the non-Chinese players, they got some good players over there,” said Romanski, who hit 9-for-28 in Texas. “That team might surprise some people this year and win some games. They’re definitely a lot better than they were last year.”

Leading the way for the Goldeyes in their first week of action was infielder Kevin Lachance. The first-year Goldeye was named the league’s player of the week after starting the season hitting .500 with one home run and four RBIs. The Goldeyes are hoping Lachance’s hot bat will make the trip back to Winnipeg. The Fish play their home opener on Friday against the defending league-champion Kansas City T-Bones at Shaw Park at 7 p.m. The Goldeyes were 1-5 against Kansas City last season.

“They’ve got some veteran guys, a lot of experienced players, and they’ve got some good arms,” Romanski said. “For some reason, they always seem to have good arms. They’re a well-rounded team, as are we. It’s going to be a good series and it’s going to be good baseball.”

Romanski, who’s entering his fourth season with the Fish, said despite the fact the team has been enjoying warm weather down south, they’re itching to get back to Winnipeg and play in front of their fans for the first time this regular season.

“The home opener has been awesome the last couple years,” said Romanski, who missed last year’s home opener after he started the season in the Mexican league.

“Obviously, I missed it last year, but in ’16 and ’17, it was awesome. There’s always a good atmosphere around the park. I’m looking forward to it. I know the guys are probably ready to get home. We’ve got a big challenge ahead of us in Kansas City. We saw them in spring training, they’re a very good team. But hopefully, we get that home-opener juice and the boys are ready to play.”

The Goldeyes, who outscored their Texas opponents 39-28, will arrive in Winnipeg today and will have the day off to recuperate from a 20-hour bus ride.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31