American Association : Wednesday May 20 Takeaways

 Kevin Luckow

(non member of IBWAA)

It was a busy night in the Association with six games being played including a doubleheader in Lincoln. Milwaukee and Gary SouthShore showed once again, you can't play all day unless you start in the morning. OK, so that probably applies much better with drinking. By the way, if your hockey team loses in the playoffs, do you root for the team that beat them, or look for revenge at the hands of someone else?

Milwaukee 8 Gary SouthShore 6

If you're looking for a bright side if you're a RailCats fan, there is the fact that they were able to come back from a 5-0 deficit to take a lead at 6-5 in the fifth inning. But it was not meant to be. The RailCats return home to face the Cleburne Railroaders who had a grueling seven game set with Fargo-Moorhead. It was a 2-4 road trip to Wisconsin. Not the worst result. But experts throughout the league are still left wondering when Jeff Isom will leave his stamp on the RailCats. It should be an interesting weekend. 

Chicago 11 Kansas City 2

The Dogs bounced back in a big way putting up 11 on the Monarchs a night after being held in check. Chance Sisco put his stamp on the game with a 3-4 night at the plate with four runs batted in. There was no hotter hitter in the Association the last two months of the 2025 season. With Jaxx Groshans in the fold, Cisco will not have to catch as much this year, leaving him fresher as the season drags on. Is Cisco ready to put up numbers worthy of Player of the Year?

Sioux Falls 10 Lake Country 6

Last Summer featured the chase of the all time home run king with Jabari Henry finally chasing down and passing Reggie Abercrombie. We were left to wonder if Henry was going to come back and run it back all over again in pursuit of another Miles Wolff Cup championship. Henry indeed has returned and has made an early impact. His grand slam tonight in the sixth inning proved to be the difference as the Canaries picked up a second consecutive win versus Lake Country. 

Winnipeg 3 Kane County 2

The Goldeyes got their first win of the season in five tries as single runs in the fifth through seventh inning erased an early two run deficit. I think this is going to be a crucial season for Logan Watkins and the Goldeyes. A city that expects their teams to win have seen the Goldeyes miss the playoffs in 2025 after reaching the Miles Wolff Cup Final in 2024. Throw on top of that an absolute disaster of a season by the Winnipeg Jets, the Winnipeg sports fans are anxious to see some success from their teams. Max Murphy has started the year slow going 2-19, but we've seen Murphy too long to know that he will get going soon. 

Cleburne 14 Fargo-Moorhead 12

The game had a score that you would expect to see on a Friday night at the softball diamond, both teams sticking around afterwards to crush some Busch Lights till they're kicked out of the park. Considering the start of the series, the Railroaders have to be happy to go 3-4 in the seven game set with the RedHawks. Before heading up to Gary for the weekend, the Railroaders probably made sure to give Jose Sermo a police escort out of Cleburne. The long time star in the Association hit his seventh home run of the series, but the Railroaders persevered for the win. 

Lincoln 3 Sioux City 2

The good news for the Saltdogs was that the were the only winless team in the American Association for about an hour. The bad news is that there were not many of their fans left at a little before 11 pm to enjoy it on a cool May evening at Haymarket Park. Manager James Frisbie who picks up his first managerial win with the Saltdogs is no stranger to adversity as three of his last four Independent teams he has managed had losing records. It will be important for the Saltdogs to find a groove after a 1-5 start following a 42 win 2025 season. It's a long fall from the early days of the American Association where Lincoln and St. Paul were the class of the American Association, with legendary battles between the two clubs. 











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