American Association Insider: Tuesday July 21st Takeaways

 Kevin Luckow 

(non member of IBWAA)

Sorry I took Sunday off. After a long frustrating day at the paying job, there was nothing left in the tank to throw together Takeaways from the American Association slate. That's the autonomy of a being your own boss and having the autonomy to take random nights off without repercussions. The grind of going through every boxscore, and having to put together takeaways on games that I likely never watched, is kind of grueling. No matter how much you like the game and league you're covering, sometimes it really does feel more like work. 

Sometimes I wonder if what I do is really needed. You got a guy on X that is putting together content on a regular basis. It's a shame the person does not reveal their real name, it would add even more relevancy to their work. When I grabbed the torch of doing recaps from Rob Pannier, the hope was that if someone can show the dedication and do it better than me, I'll step aside. 

Yet on a nondescript Monday night with only three games (I don't do Takeaways unless there are at least four games to cover), I had a situation occur that showed, that hey, maybe there is a need for me in this league. Tanner Hoops was putting together a broadcaster lineage of Sioux Falls Canaries broadcasters. There were a few holes in the lineage. I jumped into the action. In a messy man cave filled with game programs, media guides, bobbleheads, pucks and other sports memorabilia, I dove in. Almost like there was a higher power watching over me, it was only a short search and I was able to find some old Northern League and got Hoops the answers he was looking for. 

I'm considering retiring from covering the league following this season. Like any decision, you don't want to make May decisions in September, so I'll mull it over the winter and decide whether I want to sit down every night and put together summaries and takeaways almost every night. I may just go the Patrick Reusse route where I retire from writing outside of an occasional blog when the feeling hits me. 

I'm really curious as to what direction this league is heading in. With the Frontier League rebranding as the National Association, is there something in the works for interleague play like we had around 2014-2016? Could we eventually see the Miles Wolff Cup contested between the two leagues, if a uniform set of roster rules and salary cap can be accomplished. 

I'm waiting to see where expansion will occur. It seems like the teams in the league are all on solid footing. So I think it's the time to do it. We've heard sites of interest mentioned for years now. Blaine, Minnesota would hold great interest to me and could get the writing juices flowing. I heard that Colorado and St. Louis areas were mentioned in a Hall of Fame banquet speech. It was not mentioned at all when Joshua Schaub was on the air at the All Star Game. Spots mentioned previously in Tennessee and Texas are no longer being mentioned without any explanations as to why although I'm sure there are good reasons, they're just not being made public. 

Anyways, I've gone on a long tangent which had started innocently enough as stating why I didn't write on Sunday. So let's do some takeaways.

Kane County 21 Chicago 1

She was all even steven after an inning at Impact Field. But by the time the kids at the park on day camp day could crush a Chicago dog, the Cougars unleashed a fury of runs on the Dogs that was Lake Countryesque. Three different four run innings with a five run inning sandwiched in left the scoreboard operator questioning his career decision. Matt Bottcher, Alex McGarry and Sam Dexter all collected four hits in the 21 hit barrage. Armand Upshaw, Zane Spinn, Todd Lott, McGarry and Chris Kwitzer all went deep for the Cougars. Vin Timpanelli who has struggled this season ran with the run support allowing one run in seven innings to give the Cougars bullpen an easy day at the office. 

Sioux City 9 Lincoln 1

After a weekend where the Explorers left Texas feeling like a NFC East team did in the Roger Staubach era at Texas Stadium, they broke open a scoreless game with nine runs in the fifth through seventh innings. It was the long ball that did the trick D'Shawn Knowles with a three run shot to break the seal, followed later by two run homers from Henry George and Jackson Van De Brake (if you need to do a 1000 word story, Van De Brake's name helps that cause). Jarod Wright in his first Sioux City start impressed his mates with six innings of shutout baseball allowing just one hit. 


Photo courtesy of Brandon Anderson


Sioux Falls 11 Winnipeg 7

A six run fourth inning catapulted  the Canaries to their fourth win in a row at home since the All Star Break. Jabari Henry had a two run home run in the fourth inning as a part of the six run rally. It was the magic Mike's going deep as Hart and Curialle both had solo home runs for the Birds. Curialle had four hits for the night. 

Lake Country 11 Milwaukee 0

The DockHounds had five runs scored before Milkmen fans could get their milkshakes and settle in for the game. The top five batters in the order for the DockHounds collected 12 hits with Ripken Reyes and Ray Zuberer III leading the way with three each. Poor Peter Zimmerman was the only DockHounds starter that did not join the hit parade going 0-6 for the night. Shane Anderson picked up his fifth win allowing a single hit in six innings. 

Kansas 13 Cleburne 2

Give this veteran laden Monarchs team credit. After suffering a crushing defeat in extra innings last night where they were one strike from victory, they bounced back to give the Railroaders their first loss since the All Star Break in dominating fashion. Luken Baker hit his ninth home run in the seventh inning. Baker has only played in 19 games. If he had been around since the beginning of the season, we would be putting him in the Jose Sermo and Joshua Mears conversation over who will likely break Adam Brett Walker III's home run record. Hudson Head with a solo and Brad Lindsly with a three run shot also homered for the Monarchs. Austin Krob picked up the win going six innings allowing two runs in his longest outing of his season. 

Fargo Moorhead 7-10  Gary SouthShore 4-9

With the game deadlocked at four runs a piece in the sixth inning, a Dillon Thomas RBI single and a two run Jose Sermo double was the difference as the RedHawks took game one of the doubleheader. 

In game two, the RedHawks used the ol' Townball game plan to get the lead run across in the sixth inning. Brian Fuentes and Jairus Richards walked, on ball four to Richards, a throw was made to second as Fuentes was running, the throw went awry and Fuentes advanced to third and scored on a sacrifice fly. 

Tuesday's Studio Audiences brought to you by (sponsor's name here)

Cleburne 463 (99 degree first pitch)

Lincoln 2046 

Sioux Falls 1209

Milwaukee No number listed

Chicago Announced 4129

Fargo 3605













































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