Category: Kansas City Monarchs

by G.M.W. Vaughan, Monarchs

Both the Kansas City Monarchs (65-35) and the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks (64-36) came to Legends Field Labor Day Monday with plans to take home the American Association West Division title on the final day of the regular season.

It was the Monarchs who took home the regular season’s top reward with a hard fought 8-5 win in game number 100.

With Nick Belzer getting the start on the mound for the Monarchs and Trevor Simms for the RedHawks, both teams had scoreless first innings. It nearly did not stay that way in the top of the second, when Dylan Harris made a leaping grab at the left field bullpen fence to bring the ball back in and rob Alec Olund of a home run.

In the home half of the second inning, J.C. Escarra started the Monarchs’ offense with a double, followed by a single by Pete Kozma that carried Escarra to third. Harris followed with an RBI single to score Escarra to give the Monarchs the first lead of the game, 1-0.

Nick Novak singled, starting the RedHawk’s offense in the top of the fifth, advancing to second on a stolen base. Peter Maris followed with a single that scored Novak, putting the RedHawks on the board and tying the game, 1-1.

Harris opened the fifth inning with a triple crushed to center field. Darnell Sweeney followed with a single, Ryan Grotjohn with a huge double off the wall that scored both Harris and Sweeney, making the lead 3-1.

In the top of the sixth, Leo Pena advanced to first on a single, followed by a John Siliviano home run to tie the game at 3-3.

Christian Correa opened the seventh inning by advancing to first on a hit by a pitch by reliever Jordan Martinson, followed by a Maris double. Manuel Boscan advanced to first on an error by Casey Gillaspie, scoring Correa and securing the first lead of the game for Fargo-Moorhead. A base hit by Drew Ward scored Maris, adding to the Fargo lead, 5-3.

The Monarchs brought in Brandon Koch to relieve Martinson, and he got out of the inning without any more RedHawks crossing home plate.

The home half of the seventh inning proved explosive for the Monarchs’ offense. Following the seventh inning stretch with Buck O’Neil, Joe Jones took over the mound for Fargo as Ryan Grotjohn restarted the offense for the Monarchs with a lead-off walk.

Jacob Robson then crushed a towering shot over Home Run Patio to tie the game at 5-5. Jan Hernandez advanced to first base after being hit by a pitch, and both Escarra and Harris earned free passes to first. Mallex Smith also walked, scoring Hernandez and grabbing the lead back for the Monarchs, 6-5. Fargo summoned Tanner Riley into the game. Sweeney hit a line drive to center, scoring Escarra and Harris and increasing the Monarchs’ lead to 8-5.

Koch stayed on the mound for the Monarchs as Olund walked to start the eighth. Rymer Liriano singled to first, followed by a Novak walk that Koch argued, leading to his ejection from the game. Pitcher Alex Valdez came in to relieve Koch. Valdez struck out Correa and a double play ball ended the RedHawks’ threat, and the inning ended with an 8-5 lead.

Valdez worked a three up and three down top of the ninth inning to give the Monarchs their 65th win and claim their third straight American Association regular season division title.

Kansas City finished the regular season with the league’s best record and a season-high 30 games above .500. The Monarchs began August with a 1-5 road trip but rebounded to finish 19-5 over their final 24 games.

The Monarchs will play the first game of the American Association Divisional Playoff series against the Lincoln Saltdogs at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 7, at Haymarket Park in Lincoln, Nebraska.

The game can be heard on the Monarchs Broadcast Network with the pre-game beginning at 6:35 p.m. and the video stream airing on aa baseball.tv.

The Monarchs are scheduled to play games two and three (if necessary) at home at Legends Field in Kansas City on Friday, Sept. 9, and Saturday, Sept. 10, with the first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

Tickets to Monarchs playoff games can be purchased by calling 913-328-5618 or by visiting monarchsbaseball.com.

Game at 1 p.m. today to determine West division winner

by G.M.W. Vaughan, Monarchs

In a high stakes game for the Kansas City Monarchs (64-35) and the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks (64-35), they both came to Legends Field ready to fulfill their postseason dreams as both team’s standings depended on the outcome of Sunday’s game.

With Matt Hartman starting on the mound for the Monarchs and Tyler Grauer for the RedHawks, the Monarchs showed their hunger for another crown as they kept Fargo-Moorhead from clinching the division title, ending the game tied for first place in the division, winning the game 12-3.

A walk for Dylan Harris started the offense in the third inning. Mallex Smith followed with a single, adding to the offensive momentum. After a wild pitch got away from catcher Christian Correa, Harris and Smith moved to second and third, and fans were feeling the energy.

Darnell Sweeney then walked, loading the bases as Ryan Grotjohn stepped up and knocked a triple that wiped the bases clean, putting the Monarchs on top 3-0. After a sacrifice fly from Jacob Robson, Grotjohn raced home, and the Monarchs ended the inning with a commanding lead, 4-0.

The fifth inning once again saw the Monarchs’ offense take a bite out of the RedHawks. Smith started with a double off Home Run Patio wall. Sweeney followed with a single and quickly advanced to second on a wild pitch. Grotjohn stepped up and cranked another hit — a double — that scored both Smith and Sweeney.

After a walk for Robson, Jan Hernandez crushed a home run over Home Run Patio, scoring Grotjohn, Robson and Hernandez, giving the Monarchs a monstrous lead, 9-0, and highlighting the grit of a Monarchs team hungry for a division title.

Fargo decided not to give the Monarchs the shutout they hoped for as Novak hit a solo home run off Jeremy Rhoades, who came in after a quality start for Hartman, who had eight strikeouts before he left the mound, but the Monarchs’ defense kept the RedHawks from further damage, heading into the seventh inning stretch with a 9-1 lead.

In the home half of the seventh, Robson started with a walk off Alec Olund, followed by another for Hernandez. Casey Gillaspie got a single that loaded the bases. J.C. Escarra followed with a base hit that scored Robson.

A sacrifice fly by Pete Kozma scored Hernandez, and the Monarchs closed out the inning up 11-1 over Fargo.

Grotjohn started the inning with a walk off Evan Alexander, followed by a single from Robson. Hernandez followed with another walk, loading the bases for Gillaspie, who also walked, scoring Grotjohn and increasing the Monarchs’ lead, 12-1.

Frank Rubio came in to close the game in the top of the ninth. Alec Olund started with a base hit, followed by Evan Alexander who advanced to first on a fielder’s choice. Nick Novak got a base hit off a ball that got past Sweeney at third base, loading the bases.

Ben Livorsi then got a base hit scoring both Olund and Alexander, making the score 12-3. But Rubio and the Monarchs’ defense kept the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks from clinching the division title, tying them for first place.

The pivotal game with Fargo-Moorhead starts at 1 p.m. Monday, Sept. 5, Labor Day, at Legends Field in Kansas City, Kansas.

The final game of this series will determine the winner of the division and what team the Monarchs will face in round one of the playoffs.

The division-deciding game can be heard on the Monarchs Broadcast Network with the pre-game beginning at 12:30 p.m. and the video stream airing on aa baseball.tv.

Tickets to Monarchs playoff games can be purchased by calling 913-328-5618 or by visiting monarchsbaseball.com.

by Dan Vaughan Jr., Monarchs

The Kansas City Monarchs (63-35) dialed up a pair of home runs and rode a solid outing from starter Jalen Miller (2-0) to take a 3-2 win Saturday in game two of the four-game series over the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks (64-34).

The Monarchs used the long ball right off the bat in the first inning.

Mallex Smith singled to start the game off left-handed hurler Peyton Wigginton (9-3).

Then, with two outs, Jacob Robson hit his eighth homer of the season to center to give Kansas City a 2-0 lead. The home run tied the franchise mark for home runs in a season at 162.

In the home half of the fifth, Alexis Olmeda hit a solo home run to right, his seventh, to give the Monarchs a 3-0 lead and to set a new franchise single-season record. The Monarchs’ old record came in 2010 when the club played in the Northern League.

Miller surrendered just two hits in 5.1, but the RedHawks worked six walks on the evening. Miller added six strikeouts and exited in the sixth with one out. The right hander got stronger as the game went on, and in the fourth and fifth inning he walked the lead-off batter, then retired the next three batters to keep Fargo at bay.

In the sixth Joran Martinson came into the game with one on and one out. Rymer Liriano singled but was retired trying to stretch the single to a double on an outfield assist from Smith. Martinson got the final out on a fly out off the bat of Alec Olund to keep the Monarchs in the lead at 3-0.

Fargo-Moorhead cut into the Kansas City lead in the top of the seventh. Martinson struck out Nick Novak but hit Christian Correa with a pitch.

Peter Maris followed with an infield single to put two on for the RedHawks. Martinson struck out Manuel Boscan but hit Drew Ward to load the bases. Leo Pena hit a single to drive in two runs, but Martinson got John Silviano to fly out to center to end the stanza.

Brandon Koch worked a 1-2-3 eighth including two strikeouts to take the game to the top of the ninth. Alex Valdez struck out pinch hitter Ben Livorsi but issued a free pass to Maris. Boscan hit into a fielder’s choice, forcing out Maris at second for the second out of the inning. Valdez struck out Drew Ward looking to earn the save (2) in a 3-2 Monarchs win.

The win pulled the Monarchs to one game behind the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks for the West Division lead in the American Association with two games to play. The RedHawks magic number to win the West is two. The RedHawks will clinch the division crown with one more win while the Monarchs will need to win the last two games to claim their third regular season division title in a row.

Both teams are playoff bound and will face off in game three of the four-game series at 3 p.m. Sunday afternoon, Sept. 4, at Legends Field in Kansas City, Kansas.

The game can be heard on the Monarchs Broadcast Network with the pre-game beginning at 2:30 p.m. and the video stream airing on aa baseball.tv.

Tickets to Monarchs regular season and playoff games can be purchased by calling 913-328-5618 or by visiting monarchsbaseball.com.