American Association Baseball Insider

 Kevin Luckow In the worst kept secret in Independent Baseball, the Cleburne Railroaders and Kane County Cougars have moved on to the soon to be named National Association. (formerly Frontier League). I think this cements that we will not be seeing any sort of "World Series" between the National and American Associations. I mean an All Star Game between the two leagues could be rather tasty and liven up what is normally a rather color by numbers All Star Game. A place where scouts could check out the best two leagues have to offer at one venue in one night.  It was an interestingly worded statement coming from the American Association. Is there a guide on how to officially tell your fans that your league is shrinking to 10 teams? I give the league a ton of credit for keeping this announcement in the bag until the postseason concluded as to not take away from the playoffs. The quote that caught my eye was "pursue clubs in higher-value markets with closely held ownerships...

 Kevin Luckow In what will go down as the most anticlimatic Miles Wolff Cup in history, the Kansas City Monarchs are the 2026 Champions. In a season in which teams often put up ten runs a night, the Cup featured a combined ten runs in three games. It really goes against any 2026 baseball logic.  Series MVP Tyler Gentry opened the scoring with a solo home run to left field in the third inning. Monarchs starter Michael Mariot was cruising along but was victimized by the only Monarch to have a multiple hit game in the series, Yordys Valdes. Valdes went 4-4 and singled in the the only Milkmen run of the series. J.D. Davis put the Monarchs back in front in the sixth with an RBI. With the Monarch bullpen in shutdown mode, Grant Richardson hit an insurance home run in the eighth inning. The Milkmen were set down in the ninth and the celebration was on. And it apparently included the scorekeeper because as of 10:41 the box score on iScore is not completed, so I also have no attendance...

 Kevin Luckow You hate to call a Game Two of a five game series a do or die situation, but it was looking like that on Tuesday night as the Milkmen were looking to even the series at a game each. There has not been a team that dropped the first two games of the Miles Wolff Cup in recent history that came back to win the last three on the road. Even splitting the first two games at home has not been a recipe for success. But that was the best the Milkmen could hope for going into Tuesday night's game. It was not mean to be however as the Milkmen were shutout for the second consecutive night, 4-0, on a combined two hitter. It's a shame for the Milkmen who held the Monarchs to six runs, four earned in two games, and have nothing to show for it.  The Monarchs wasted no time getting on the board. Tyler Gentry led off the game with a double off the base of the left field fence, stole third base and scored on a Luken Baker ground out.  In the fourth, Baker led off with a long fl...

 It was the battle of the two division winners. One team, Milwaukee, built on a solid pitching staff, and weapons in the middle of the batting order. The other, Kansas City, who can out slug any team in the league with pitching that was middle of the road during the season. But as we often see in the post season, it was the pitching that came out ahead, except in this case it was the Monarchs pitching. On a veteran laden team it was rookie Sawyer Allen threw six shutout innings and four relievers combined to shutdown the Milkmen the rest of the way.  The Monarchs got on the board first in the third inning. A one out single by J.D. Davis was forced out, but Tyler Gentry walked and Austin Callahan poked a single to left field to score Grant Richardson from second base. Jhordany Mezquita avoided any other damage by coaxing a ground out with the bases loaded from Saul Garza. In the bottom of the frame, Charlie Marion doubled to lead off the inning but was left stranded on third....

 Kevin Luckow We have the matchup now for the Miles Wolff Cup Final as the Kansas City Monarchs defeated the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks  to advance to meet the Milwaukee Milkmen.  Kansas City 10 Fargo-Moorhead 9 After a blip in Game Four, the Monarchs got back to doing Monarch things and that was enough to take down a game RedHawks club. A Luken Baker home run (of course) got the Monarchs off to a roaring start with a three run home run. Is there any doubt now that Baker may have been the real player of the year in the American Association? Grant Richardson and Tyler Gentry both homered in the first four innings to stake the Monarchs to a 9-2 lead after four innings. But the RedHawks reminded everyone how proud of a ball club they are, fighting right to the end. Jose Sermo's three run home run in the fifth inning got the RedHawks back to within three runs at 9-6. Down 10-6 in the ninth inning Tucupita Marcano homered to get the RedHawks to within a run. Tripp Clark followed ...

 Kevin Luckow Both Game Fours are in the books and it was an eventful day as half of the Miles Wolff Cup Final equation has been solved, an era in American Association baseball comes to an end, and the table has been sent for a doozy of a Game Five tomorrow night.  Milwaukee 7 Kane County 1 With rainy weather scheduled for Friday night, the Milkmen and Cougars began during what most of Wisconsin refers to as Happy Hour. And a Happy Hour it was for 129 Milkmen fans enjoying $1 beers at Franklin Field. After Matt Bottcher got the Cougars on the board in the first inning, the Milkmen took over. Alec Olund hit a two run home run and Griffin Doersching drove in a run to give the Milkmen the momentum back.  The Milkmen had three other home runs as Doersching connected for a solo in the sixth, while Delvin Perez and Andy Blake went back to back with solo shots in the seventh.  It was more than enough run support as Angelo Cabral threw five innings allowing one run on one hi...

 Kevin Luckow Both game threes are in the books and both higher seeds have held serve leading to two possible eliminations on Friday night. Milwaukee 3 Kane County 0 Such an odd game, but in the end the Cougars are shutout for the second game in a row. We thought the Cougars had got on the board in the third inning. Sam Dexter launched a ball to left field that he believed had left the park. The umpiring crew ruled it had not. With Dexter trotting, he was easily retired between first and second base. Witnesses claimed that the ball had indeed left the park but bounced off the berm and back onto the field. With a white line at the top of the fence, that's a tough call to make with a white ball. Just a thought here, but how about a yellow line and or a basket beyond the wall that would catch the ball? The Milkmen scored a pair in the bottom of the frame as Cougars starter Jake Gilbert walked three Milkmen and was burned for a two run triple by Delvin Perez. Griffin Doersching added a...

 Kevin Luckow Should we expect anything else in this wild season of American Association Baseball. Both series are now knotted up at a game apiece. One game a nailbiter, the other was decided early. Fargo-Moorhead 5 Kansas City 4 In a game that had a similar script to Game One, the Monarchs jumped out to a 3-0 lead on a two run double by J.D. Davis and a Tyler Gentry single. Down 4-1 in the fourth inning, it was Jose Sermo crushing a two run home run to center field. Rumor is the ball was eventually stopped in Baudette, Minnesota trying to cross into Canada without proper documentation. Eric Filia tied the game with an RBI single in the sixth inning. The game was decided on a bad hop in the seventh. Tripp Clark tripled on a ball that took a bad bounce on a hard charging Gentry in right field. Brian Fuentes singled to drive in Clark. An interesting play later in the inning saw Tucupita Mercano trying to add an insurance run by stealing home, but the gamble did not pay off. Kansas Ci...

 Kevin Luckow (Non member of IBWAA) Are we entertained yet? Both games of the American Association Finals delivered on a Monday night. If the rest of the week looks like tonight, we are in for two fun series. Kane County 4 Milwaukee 3 (10 innings) As much as Cougars fans were bemoaning the injuries of Claudio Finol and Todd Lott midway through the season, the injury to Alex McGarry went under the radar. Boy has McGarry made his presence known in the playoffs. His three run triple in Oconomowoc on Saturday got the Cougars the lead. And tonight, in a game that I was thinking was going to go deep into the Geneva night, McGarry singled in Josh Allen to win Game One over the Milkmen.  Konnor Ash vs. Jhordany Mezquita was a great pitching matchup. But the Cougars jumped on Mezquita for three runs in the first two innings. Mezquita settled in and got through five innings. Cougar fans, you got your ace pitcher back. Ash who had struggled in the last month, allowed just one run, a Char...

 Kevin Luckow (non member of IBWAA) I was going to take the day off today. With Division Finals set to begin on Monday there was plenty to talk about. My attempt at picking the winners in Round One yielded a 2-2 record. So I will not make a stab at picking this round to spare myself the humiliation and ire of the readers. The most that I will say is that I will not be a bit surprised if the lower seeds (Fargo-Moorhead, Kane County) find a way to win their series. As I alluded to, I was going to take today off but then I was watching the St. Paul vs. Syracuse AAA game. A listening sent in a question to the Saints broadcasters asking about if the Saints would play next year if there is a MLB lockout underway. The answer being that there will be baseball played at all levels of Minor League Baseball. BUT, any player on a 40 man roster will be allowed to play in MiLB.  That creates a dilemma. Major League teams carry 26 players on their active roster. So that leaves 14 players tha...

 Kevin Luckow (non member of IBWAA) Three teams punched their tickets to the Division Finals while three teams were sent looking for flight tickets as the first round of the playoffs concluded on Saturday night.  Kane County 5 Lake Country 3 I posed the question last night as to whether Kane County's pitching or Lake Country's hitting would prevail in a deciding Game Three. We got our answer as the Cougars were able to hold the league's best hitting team to just three runs. The Cougars were opportunistic on offense as Alex McGarry's bases loaded triple and Jairus Richards' two run single were the difference. With a rested bullpen, the Cougars did not allow a run in the last 3.2 innings. And they only used Vin Timpanelli, Art Warren and Jake Gozzo. The pen will be well rested for the Division Finals. Only six wins away from a three peat.  Milwaukee 4 Cleburne 0 Angelo Cabral threw five shutout innings and three relievers completed the shutout as the Milkmen advanced ...

 Kevin Luckow (non member of IBWAA) There's a reason why I didn't want to do a prediction blog. So far I've had at least two of my predictions go wrong as far as how many games their series would last. In a wildly unpredictable season, I guess we should not be surprised. Fargo-Moorhead 6 Winnipeg 5 Down 2-1 in the fourth inning, a two run Roby Enriquez home run gave the Goldeyes the lead. The lead was padded with single runs in the seventh and eighth innings, including a Ray-Patrick Didder solo home run to give the Goldeyes and closer Derrick Cherry a two run lead heading to the ninth. The RedHawks however got two runners on base, and Matt Kroon emptied them with a three run home run to hush a crowd of 5128 at Blue Cross Park. Tyler Jeans set the Goldeyes down in order and just like that the Goldeyes season was over the and the RedHawks advanced. Another chapter in the legendary rivalry between the two clubs. Sioux Falls 3 Kansas City 1 Everyone was quick to write off the C...

 Kevin Luckow (non member of IBWAA) There is something that just hits different with American Association Playoff Baseball. The ballpark is quieter as the night begins. No promotions or group sales to bring in a crowd. It's the hardcore fans that provide the support. As the game picks up steam, those hardcores get engaged in the game. Before you know it, the intensity and noise in the ballpark is the same if not more than a regular season game.  Four games in the Association tonight. As much as I don't like making predictions, let it be known that I hit on all four of my Game One picks. Kansas City 12 Sioux Falls 6 For the longest time, it looked like it was going to be a workmanlike victory for the West Division Monarchs. They went into the last of the seventh with a 5-1 lead. But the Canaries struck back. Down 5-2, a Mike Hart grand slam put the Canaries into the lead 6-5. They carried the lead into the ninth. Then disaster struck. The Canaries went with Spencer Bauer in the...

 Kevin Luckow (non member of IBWAA) I was considering not doing this as making predictions means that 50 percent of your readership thinks you're stupid and you hate their team. The other 50 percent say, thanks a lot, you just jinxed our team. It's a no win proposition. But I'll take a stab at it anyway, and shoot your arrows as you wish. I've fought through worse. But I'm not going to get in depth as I've learned that the more you analyze, the more you doubt your choices. East Division Milwaukee over Cleburne in three games. Cleburne comes into the series with their pitching on a roll and the Milkmen are struggling at the plate. But I don't see the Milkmen dropping two of three games at home. Lake Country over Kane County in three games. Both teams hold serve in their own ballpark/campground. Konnor Ash gets back on track to get the Cougars a game one win, but the DockHounds outslug the Cougars at Kamp Oconomowoc.  West Division Kansas City over Sioux Falls...

 Kevin Luckow (non member of IBWAA) Not much on the news front to report from today. Four teams concluded their seasons today. Kudos to the players, coaches, broadcasters, front offices, and fans for getting through the 100 game grind. With the Milwaukee loss and the Kansas City win, the Monarchs clinched the #1 overall record and home field throughout the playoffs. The playoffs start on Wednesday. Hopefully AABTV will have the quad screen thing going for all four games.  Sioux City 20 Lake Country 9 The Explorers ended their season with a bang. Alberto Osuna homered three times and drove in eight runs. J.D. Rogers hit his first professional home run as Kamp Oconomowoc was doing Kamp Oconomowoc things.  Kansas City 5 Winnipeg 1 The Monarchs as mentioned earlier earned the top overall seed in the Miles Wolff Cup Playoffs. Luken Baker had an RBI to end the season with 78 in just 62 games, good for 10th in the league. Cleburne 8 Kane County 0 Cody Thomas set the tone in the ...

 Kevin Luckow (non member of IBWAA) I didn't get to watch much on the last Sunday of the season. I was at the Minnesota Amateur Baseball Tournament. I saw a 12 inning 3-2 game in a Class B semi final game where Plato defeated Delano. Former Sioux Falls Canaries reliever Trevor Jaunich was the shortstop for Delano. After that Coon Rapids walked off Sartell 6-5 in ten innings. Alex Boxwell singled, stole second and third and scored the winning run. Boxwell played one game for the St. Paul Saints in 2018, three for Gary SouthShore in 2019 before moving on to Fargo-Moorhead from 2019-2021, playing a career high 80 games and batting .296 for the Miles Wolff Cup finalists. On Sunday night, the first round Miles Wolff Cup matchups were announced. To nobody's surprise, Kansas City opted for a first round matchup with Sioux Falls who they dominated in 2026. This leaves a juicy 2-3 matchup between Winnipeg and Fargo-Moorhead. In the East, Milwaukee chose Cleburne and having all three gam...

 Kevin Luckow (non member of IBWAA) I'm going to make this one brief. I started the day off at the paying job. After a couple of hours rest, I did the husband version of "wearing one" by going to a Snoop Dogg concert with my wife and stepson. There was more weed there than an abandoned ballpark. The playoff field is set and matchups in the West are a forgone conclusion. There is still potential jockeying in the East between Kane County and Lake Country and a tough decision to be made by the Milwaukee Milkmen. Scores from tonight: Winnipeg 11 Kansas City 9 Sioux City 13 Lake Country 4 Kane County 5 Cleburne 3 Gary SouthShore 11 Chicago 4 Milwaukee 5 Fargo-Moorhead 2 Sioux Falls 3 Lincoln 2 What's left to play for?: Kansas City: Extremely likely to choose Sioux Falls for a first round opponent. One game behind Milwaukee for top overall record and home field throughout the playoffs. Winnipeg: A good ol' fashioned Northern League like collision with the RedHawks await...

 Kevin Luckow (non meymber of IBWAA) Wow, so much to unpack. But some races got some clarity tonight. Lake Country 12 Sioux City 11 Wow, if there is a game that personifies 2026 in the American Association, this one is the poster child. It looked like a DockHounds runaway as the Hounds got out to an 8-0 lead and all was festive among the campers at Kamp Oconomowoc. But the Explorers who had every reason to call it a night would have none of it, coming all the way back to take a lead in the fifth inning. The game became a 9-9 deadlock before three walks and a Joshua Mears broken bat single scored two runs. A bases loaded walk added another run that proved to be the difference as the Explorers came back to make it 12-11 on a Yorman Rodriguez two run home run. Mears' two RBI single gave him the all time league single season RBI record, and likely the inroad to MVP honors.  The dimensions at Kamp Oconomowoc are embarrassing for a professional ballpark. It does nobody any favors. A...

 Kevin Luckow (non member of IBWAA) The playoff picture remains muddled a bit as six series wrapup with just the next four game sets left for the twelve teams in the American Association. Kansas City 5 Sioux City 4 It was the Monarchs using what they use so well at Legends Field, the long ball, to salvage the series finale with the Explorers. With the score tied at one in the fifth, a Luken Baker three run blast gave the Monarchs a 4-1 lead. The Explorers had an answer however as a Zac Vooletich two run home run tied the game at four in the seventh. Then the Monarchs used their head, as in Hudson Head, hitting a solo home run that proved to be the difference. With the win, the Monarchs will need to win just one game versus Winnipeg at Legends Field this weekend to win the West Division. The Explorers drop a game plus tiebreaker behind Sioux Falls because...... Sioux Falls 6 Cleburne 5 It was another walk off winner, this time a single by Joe Vos driving in the winning run in the bo...

 Kevin Luckow (non member of IBWAA) Another full night of American Association pennant chase baseball and the playoff picture has not become any clearer than it was when the night started. What else should we expect in this crazy season in American Association Baseball? Sioux City 11 Kansas City 2 There's a sound bite that is played at times when the Explorers radio broadcasts comes back from break when it is proclaimed "the hot dogs are ready, the popcorn's popping and the drinks are cold". They may have to add, "and the Explorers are hot" to the end of it. The X's won their fourth game in a row, their longest streak of the season and made easy work of the West leading Kansas City Monarchs. A five run fifth inning highlighted by a grand slam by Wilfredo Gimenez broke the game open. Hunter Poe got the win going seven innings, allowing two runs winning his third start in three outings as an Explorer. However the Explorers remain a tiebreaker behind Sioux ...

Kevin Luckow (non member of IBWAA) The last week of the season has begun with a full slate of games. We had some surprises and races in some spots have tightened. There was a game from June wrapped up early in the night with Fargo-Moorhead defeating Winnipeg 17-7.Let's get down to it. Cleburne 11 Sioux Falls 2 You thought it may be the Canaries night when Mike Hart led off the home half of the first inning with an inside the park home run. But it was all Railroaders from there as they looked more like the team playing for their playoff lives. The Roaders scored a pair in the fourth to take the lead and five in the sixth to take control, cruising to a win. With the loss the Canaries are only a tiebreaker ahead of Sioux City because........ Sioux City 6 Kansas City 5 (10 innings) The Explorers used the long ball to build a lead as Henry George, Jackson Van De Brake and Braulio Vasquez all homered to help stake Sioux City to a lead. But the Monarchs tied the game in the last of the ni...