Kansas City, KS — The Monarchs did it, they won their fourth Miles Wolff Cup and fifth title in franchise history with a 3-1 win over the Milwaukee Milkmen on a wild night at Legends Field.

This was a defensive battle with both teams making some timely plays to start out, but as they have done this entire series, KC threw the first punch. With one away in the third, Tyler Gentry smoked an absolute moonshot into left field to grab a playoff-leading sixth homer.

The Monarchs held the Milkmen scoreless for 24-straight innings, but Milwaukee finally muscled in a tally for the first time in the series. In the fifth frame, Griffin Doersching led off with a base-hit and then moved over to second on a sac-bunt from Chase Waddell. Charlie Marion followed it up with a walk to put two runners on and one in scoring position. This flipped it to the top of the order where Yordys Valdes lined a ball into center field and Doersching raced home from second to slide in safely at home on a close call. There were boos from the Monarchs faithful, but nonetheless it was a 1-1 ballgame.

Michael Mariot made his 3rd playoff start on the bump tonight and did not disappoint. He threw five innings and delivered three K’s while only allowing a lone run. The Monarchs defense continued to shine as they linked up with four double plays in timely fashion to hold the Milkmen to just one run. Ryan Anderson, Emmanuel Chapman, Tyler Myrick, and Durbin Feltman each threw scoreless baseball and Feltman recorded the title-clinching save.

KC retook the lead in the sixth inning as Sahid Valenzuela stood up with a one-out single to keep the line moving. One pitch later, Hudson Head drove a ball into center field and Valenzuela raced over to third, but was shaken up on the play. Jose Torres pinch ran and was sent home on a JD Davis line drive that went off the glove of shortstop, Delvyn Peres.

The tension was brewing and in the eighth inning, the Monarchs needed some insurance. With two away, Grant Richardson provided the biggest swing of the season on an opposite field solo homer that carried over the Home Run Patio. It was a two-run lead and Feltman closed it out in the ninth to win the cup.

This team shuffled players in and out the entire season, but never lost their core identity. Joe Calfapietra and this staff put together an unbelievable team that bought into a winning culture. Through the ups and the downs, they never lost sight of who they were and continued to work together as a unit. The Monarchs now have the most Miles Wolff Cup’s in American Association history and with a tremendous team, front office, and organization, the future continues to shine at Legends Field.

Milwaukee, WI — Once again, it was a dominant defensive display as the Monarchs shut out the Milkmen, 4-0, to move two games ahead in the Miles Wolff Cup Final on Tuesday night.

As Kansas City has done the entire playoffs, the Monarchs struck first in the opening frame. On the fourth pitch of the game, Tyler Gentry roped a ball into left field and led off with a double. Gentry swiped a bag and got 90 feet away while Luken Baker forced an RBI ground out to bring in Gentry. It was a quick 1-0 lead.

Three frames later, Kansas City added to the lead when Baker led off with a double. He quickly got to third after Hudson Head grounded out and then Saul Garza tagged a base-hit into left to bring in Baker. The inning did not stop there when Sahid Valenzuela drilled a hard-hit grounder to center field to move Garza to third. This made way for Garza to cross home plate when a wild pitch was thrown by Milwaukee starting pitcher, Christian Young. KC had a comfortable 3-0 advantage, but there was still more work to be done.

Jimmy Endersby made his third playoff start on the mound and arguably had his best. The former Cal St Fullerton product delivered seven scoreless innings of baseball while punching out seven batters. He only allowed one hit and was on fire at the bump tonight. Tyler Myrick and Emmanuel Chapman pitched the final two frames and picked up where Endersby left off. They allowed just one hit between them as the Milkmen totaled just two knocks the entire night. It was the best defensive performance of the playoffs and Kansas City provided that in the biggest game up until this point.

Just when you thought the Monarchs were done scoring, they provided one more in the eighth. Gentry led off with a double for his second knock of the night while Austin Callahan laid down a sac-bunt to move Gentry to third. Two batters later, Head perfectly placed a ball in shallow left while Gentry raced home to score the team’s fourth tally of the night.

The Monarchs are now just one game away from their fifth championship in franchise history. All eyes turn to Thursday as Game 3 will be at Legends Field with an opportunity to become Miles Wolff Cup champions. Everyone must come to Legends Field to watch Kansas City in action. First pitch is at 6:35!

Kansas City, KS — It was a wild night at Legends Field as the the Monarchs got out to a hot start, never surrendered the lead, and outlasted the Redhawks with a 10-9 win to move on to the Finals.

If there was any momentum from Fargo’s win yesterday, KC quickly erased that by driving three runs in the opening frame. Tyler Gentry drew a walk while Austin Callahan collected a base hit. This brought up the big hitter in Luken Baker who absolutely smashed a three-run blast to open up the contest.

This continued in the second inning and with two down, Grant Richardson belted a solo homer to go up by four. Richardson made some unbelievable acrobatic catches in the outfield that saved a couple runs. He was a big piece on the defensive side tonight.

KC was shutting down Fargo and consistently driving in runs. In the third inning, Baker and Saul Garza each registered a base-hit while Sahid Valenzuela poked a sac-fly RBI to bring in Baker and Hudson Head perfectly hit a weak grounder that staying in the infield to bring in Garza. It was a 6-0 Monarchs lead after three frames, but it was a long way from over.

Fargo would crack the scoreboard in the top of the fourth as Eric Filia tallied a one-out double and then Matt Kroon drilled a two-run jack to cut into the deficit.

There was an immediate answer in the bottom of the frame when Tyler Gentry hit a line-drive homer into left field on the first pitch of the frame. Shortly after, Callahan doubled and Baker walked which allowed Garza to smack a liner into right center that brought home a pair of runs for an RBI triple. It was a 9-2 advantage and their largest lead this series.

Thaddeus Ward made his second start this series and went four innings while striking out two batters, but surrendered two runs. The Monarchs grabbed four more pitchers out of the bullpen with Jack Walker, Tyler Myrick, Emmanuel Chapman, and Durbin Feltman. It was Feltman who earned his second save in the series and the 11th of the year.

Just when the Monarchs had all the momentum, Fargo would not lie down so easily as they stormed back with a four-run fifth frame. Juan Fernandez and Eric Filia each grabbed a base-knock which allowed Jose Sermo to smoke a shot 442 feet to cut it to 9-5. Later in the inning, Tripp Clark brought home Matt Kroon and it was back to a four-run lead.

In the bottom of the fifth, Hudson Head drilled an opposite field homer as KC scored all 10 runs in the first five innings. It was a dominant offensive of display and Fargo had no answer for this team early in the game.

The Redhawks plated a run in the seventh on a Tripp Clark RBI knock, but contrary to yesterday, it was the Monarchs who provided timely outs as Fargo had 10 runners stranded.

Durbin Feltman came on to close the game in the eighth and with two outs in the ninth, Brian Fuentes earned a base-hit. This brought in Tucupita Marcano who flared a fly ball into right field that went beyond the fence to cut the deficit to one. Fortunately, KC would take that final out and move on to the championship series.

It was a wild series between these two teams, but KC got their revenge and outlasted the Redhawks to earn their fifth finals appearance in franchise history. Baker mentioned, “It feels good, that’s why you play, you play to win it all. The competitor in you wants to win every game. We are about to go play a good Milwaukee team…I feel like we match up well.”

The Monarchs are 4-0 in the finals and will have a tall task vs the Milwaukee Milkmen. Both teams each took three wins off of each other to split the season series. First pitch is at 6:35 at Franklin Field on Monday night. Games 3-5 will be at Legends Field with the first home game on Thursday. Tickets are on sale now for the home matchups at tickets.monarchsbaseball.com

Kansas City, KS — This was the best Monarchs performance on both sides side of the plate in this series as they cruised to a 7-3 win over the Redhawks and are now one win away from the championship series.

Just as they have done the entire series, the Monarchs drew first blood. In the first frame with two down, Luken Baker and Grant Richardson both walked to bring in Saul Garza. The former Royals prospect saw the full count pitch and cranked a three-run shot into left center to give KC an early advantage. It was his 20th homer this season and his biggest up until this point.

The Redhawks would not lie down so easily. After Brian Fuentes collected a base-hit in the second, Jesus Lujano smoked a two-run bomb to right field and the deficit was cut to one. It quickly became 3-2.

This did not phase the Monarchs by any means as they answered back with a tally in the fourth. Sahid Valenzuela led off with a double after outfielder, Dillon Thomas, lost the fly ball in the lights and Valenzuela was able to scoot over to second. He got to third and was brought home on a JD Davis RBI grounder.

Jimmy Endersby stepped on the mound for the 19th time this season and his second in the playoffs. He shoved in eight K’s in seven frames and only surrendered the homer from Lujano. Once again, he provided a terrific command on the bump and allowed the offense to flouish. Jack Walker and Durbin Feltman finished out the night on the mound.

KC continued to stack runs as they added another one in the fifth. On the first pitch of the inning, Tyler Gentry hooked an opposite field shot and now has four homers in the postseason. He leads the playoffs in hits (10), RBI’s (9), and Hr’s (4).

In the sixth, Garza led off with an extra base-hit and later in the frame, Davis brought home on a slapped ball into left center. It was a 6-2 advantage and the Monarchs had their largest lead of the series.

Just when you thought they were done scoring, the Monarchs added another tally for the fourth-consecutive inning. Richardson walked and then made his way to third which paved the way for Onix Vega to drive a ball up the middle while they scored the seventh and final run. Vega has come alive in the back of the season and mentioned, “It feels good, I didn’t play for a long time. I got here, had some at-bats and started really cold. Then I started getting better at-bats and better swings. Now i’m ready to go.”

Fargo finished out the night with a solo homer from Tucupita Marcano in the eighth, but it was too little too late.

With this win, the Monarchs now have an opportunity to clinch their spot in the championship series with a victory tomorrow night. They will look to take this series with a 6:35 first pitch at Legends Field on Friday night.

Fargo, ND — In a game that was delayed for an hour, it certainly lived up to the hype as Kansas City and Fargo went toe-to-toe for nine frames, but the Monarchs were able to snatch a 6-4 win in the first game of the West Division Championship series.

KC started red hot when on the fourth pitch of the game, Tyler Gentry sliced a double into right center. Shortly after, Luken Baker drove a ball up the middle to bring home Gentry for the first run. The Monarchs collected their third double of the inning on a Saul Garza line drive while Baker raced home from second

Tyler Gentry was on fire at the plate tonight as he continued to have an impact with a triple to start the third inning. Austin Callahan did his job as he pushed a sac fly to bring home Gentry. It became a 3-0 lead.

Former Washington National, Thaddeus Ward, made his fourth start on the bump tonight and dealt a season-high seven punchouts while surrendering three runs in five innings. Jack Walker and Emmanuel Chapman combined for three K’s in three frames and Durbin Feltman recorded his eighth save as Monarch.

For a team that was second in the association in runs, the Redhawks were held scoreless for five-straight frames before they made their mark in the sixth. Eric Filia led off with a base-hit and then Jose Sermo roped a ball down the right field line to put two runners in scoring position. Tripp Clark walked and the bases were loaded with Dillon Thomas at the plate. Walker replaced Ward on the bump and on the third pitch that was thrown, Thomas blasted a grand slam into right field to give Fargo the first lead of the night. It was a 4-3 ballgame and the Monarchs had work to do.

One of the biggest moments of the game happened in the top of the seventh. Sahid Valenzuela hooked a ball near the third base line and Filia came over to make the catch, but collided with shortstop Aiden Byrne and the ball went out of his glove which was ruled a fair ball. What seemed like a routine flyout quickly became a triple for Valenzuela. This allowed Hudson Head to drive an RBI ground out and bring home Valenzuela to tie up the game at four apiece.

In the eighth inning and just what you needed him most, he arrived. Baker saw the 1-1 delivery and smoked a solo homer over the left field fence to put Kansas City in front.

The Monarchs finished off this game with a tally in each of the final three frames as they scored their sixth run of the night in the ninth. Grant Richardson led off the frame with a walk and was pushed to second on a Valenzuela sac-bunt. After Head popped out, Jose Torres walked. With runners at the corners, Gentry added an insurance run with a driven ball up the middle to bring home Richardson.

This game was far from over as the Redhawks would not go away so easily. Juan Fernandez and Filia both drew a walk and Feltman really had to settle in. He retired three-consecutive batters including two punch outs to finish out the game.

It was a huge victory for Kansas City to steal Game 1 on the road. If they can find a way to win tomorrow, there will be an opportunity to close it out at home on Thursday. Fargo will not go away so easily as Game 2 is scheduled for 6:35 tomorrow night at Newman Outdoor Field.