Royals on the Farm 9/7

AAA - Omaha: Shane Costa and Joe Nelson were named the O-Royals' Player and Pitcher of the Year, respectively. Costa batted .342 with 10 HR and 29 RBI in 52 games and slugged .593. Nelson was 2-2 with a 1.97 ERA and a club-best 7 saves (ugh) in 24 appearances for Omaha. The player and pitcher of the year from each of the minor league affiliates will be recognized at the K Sept. 22.

AA - Wichita: Tulsa 6, Wranglers 0 (Wichita leads best-of-5 series 2-1)

3B Gordon 1-5, 3 K, SB (1) -- .214, batted second
DH Butler 1-3, BB -- .333, back from Team USA
2B Murphy 2-4, K -- .500
C Espino 2-3, BB -- .500
LF Lubanski 1-4, BB, 2B, 2 K -- .231
CF Maier 0-4 -- .154
RF D. Brown 1-5, 2 K , E (1) -- .417, batting in third slot
SS Sanchez 1-4, 2 K -- .308

Herndon 6 IP, 6 ER, 12 H, 3 K, HRA -- L, 0-1, 9.00 ERA, yuck
Cedeno 3 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, K -- 0.00 ERA

*** Wichita slapped out 9 hits but, even with Billy Butler back in the lineup, could put together no runs off 4 Driller pitchers as Tulsa avoided a sweep by hammering Junior Herndon. Six of the Drillers' 14 hits in the game came in a 4-run 1st off Herndon as all 6 were singles and a sac fly helped with the rally. Herndon gave up a solo homer in the 3rd to make it 5-0. Wichita averaged a runner an inning and stranded 2 in the 5th. Herndon left with the bases loaded and no outs in the 7th and Juan Cedeno allowed only 1 run to make it 6-0. The Wranglers got 2 on with 0 out in the 8th but a Mitch Maier fly out was worsened by Dee Brown getting thrown out trying to tag up at second and move to third. Donnie Murphy followed with a single before Angel Sanchez struck out to end the threat. Two more runners reached base with 1 out in the 9th but Alex Gordon popped out and Brown struck out to end the game. Tulsa SP Steven Register allowed 4 hits and 2 walks with 5 K over 5 IP to get the win, 3B Ian Stewart was 2-5 with a homer and 2 RBI and DH Tino Sanchez was 1-4 with 2 RBI. Drillers' 1B prospect Joe Koshansky is now hitting .077 in the series while DH Joe Gaetti is hitting .083.

Luke Hochevar makes his first big start for an organizational squad as he takes the mound for Wichita in game 4. Opposing him will be Tulsa's Enmanuel Ulloa. In the other TL series, Corpus Christi finished off a sweep of Midland Thursday and awaits either Wichita or Tulsa in the TL championship series. Wichita IF Walter Sevilla has left the team to attend classes at the U of Tennessee. In his honor, his teammates named a duck that stayed on the field for several hours during the Sept. 2 game "Wally the Rally Duck." According to the Eagle, Wranglers employees sported Wally the Rally Duck T-shirts at the game Thursday. I guess it's Wichita's form of the Rally Monkey. Alex Gordon was named the Wranglers' Player of the Year while Zack Greinke was the Wranglers' Pitcher of the Year, respectively. Gordon also, to no surprise, was named the Royals' Minor League Player of the Year Thursday after hitting .325 with 39 2B, 29 HR and 100 RBI. His 286 total bases were 2nd overall in all the minor leagues this season. He was one of 5 players in the nation in the minors to have 20 HR and 20 SB. Greinke was 8-3 with a 4.38 ERA in 18 games for Wichita.

High-A - High Desert: Mavs 3, Lake Elsinore 2 (best-of-3 series tied at 1)

1B Stodolka 0-5, K -- .000
LF Tomlin 3-4, 2B, SB, OF assist at second -- .375, got job done at plate and in field
SS Falu 2-5, 2B, 2 K -- .300
2B Gaffney 2-4, BB -- .500
3B Lucas 1-3, 2 BB, 2B, RBI, K, RS, picked off -- .429

Gragg 7 IP, 2 R (1 ER), 4 H, BB, 3 K, HRA, E (1), balk -- W, 1-0, 1.29 ERA
Pimentel 2 IP, 2 H, BB, 2 K -- SV, 1

*** HD forced a winner-take-all game 3 Friday by scoring 2 7th-inning runs and hanging on to beat the Storm. A Juan Senreiso double-play ball in the 4th scored the Mavs' first run but John Gragg, who took a 1-hitter through 4 1/3 IP, made a throwing error and balk in the 5th that led to a sac fly to tie the game. Two Storm errors in the 7th helped HD take the lead as Kiel Thibault singled and an error scored Brian McFall. After Geraldo Valentin was thrown out at the plate trying to add another run, Ed Lucas took a bases-loaded walk to force home the second run of the frame to make it 3-1 HD. Gragg gave up a solo homer to start the 7th but the 3-2 Mavs lead held into the 9th. With 1 out in the Storm 9th, Julio Pimentel gave up a single but James Tomlin threw out the runner trying to stretch it to a double. The play was big as the next batter doubled before Pimentel induced a fly out to end the game. LE C Nick Hundley was 2-4 with a homer and RBI, 1B Tim Brown was 2-4 with a double and 3B Chase Headley was 0-3.

It's do or die for High Desert in Friday's decisive game in Lake Elsinore. Carlos Rosa takes the mound for the decisive game vs. LE's Matt Buschmann. The team site story on Thursday's game states Chris Nicoll will start game 3, so it's either he or Rosa tonight. Nicoll's been doing better at HD over a short time frame so I think I'd rather have him start. Either guy is a gamer, I'm sure. Burlington's site is reporting Rosa was named the Royals' Minor League Pitcher of the Year after going 8-6 with a 2.53 ERA in 24 starts for the Bees coming off TJS. He finished 4th in the MWL in ERA but has posted an ERA over 7 in 3 starts at HD. SS Irving Falu and P Jarod Plummer were named HD's Player and Pitcher of the Year, respectively. Mike Stodolka had to have bagged player if not for that late slump, although I'm sure Falu outclasses him in the field. Falu hit .299 with 87 RS and 31 SB and led the team with 126 games played. Plummer also posted double digits in wins and posted a nice ERA in relief for the Mavs. He also K'd 114 while walking only 20 over 95 2/3 IP.

Low-A - Burlington: The Bees' Player and Pitcher of the Year were 3B Mario Lisson and, of course, Carlos Rosa. Lisson finished with a .263 BA and 17 HR to go with 73 RBI. He also stole 41 bases and slugged .421.

Rookie - Idaho Falls: Chukars 9, Ogden 0

2B Mertins 2-5, 2B (11), HR (1), 3 RBI (26), SB (26) -- .342
DH Maddox 3-5, 2 2B (22), 2 RBI (40), 2 RS -- .336
LF Bigler 3-5, 2B (5), K, 2 RS -- .276
CF Dickerson 2-5, RS, E (5) -- .281
1B Turner 2-5, 2B (18), RS -- .229
RF Gonzalez 2-5, 3 K -- .282
C Lance 2-4, BB, K, RS, PB (3), picked off -- .190
SS McConnell 1-3, SF, 2 RBI (35), K, RS -- .262

Mozingo 6 IP, 6 H, 2 BB, 2 K -- W, 3-1, 6.17 ERA
Abreu and Eckley 3 IP scoreless relief

*** IF ended the regular season in style by blanking the Raptors. Four 2-run innings did the trick from the 2nd through the 5th. A wild pitch and Chris McConnell sac fly scored the 2 runs in the 2nd, a 2-run double by Marc Maddox made it 4-0 in the 3rd, a 2-run double by Kurt Mertins made it 6-0 in the 4th and a McConnell RBI single and another run-scoring wild pitch made it 8-0 in the 5th. Mertins hit a solo homer in the 8th to polish it off as Harold Mozingo, Juan Abreu and Jacob Eckley kept Ogden silent on 7 hits. The Chukars finished the second half at 18-20 and 40-36 overall. Ogden 2B Jesus Soto was 2-4 with his 15th error to move to .309 and LF Ryan Rogowski was 0-1 with 2 BB to drop to .312.

The playoffs start Friday as the Chukars play host to Orem in game 1 of a best-of-3. Blake Wood (3-1, 4.50) takes on Orem's Sean O'Sullivan (4-0, 2.14). IF has to be a heavy underdog going into the series as Orem has owned the Chukars this season. Billings and Missoula face off in the other Pioneer League playoff series. The Chukars' Player and Pitcher of the Year were 2B Marc Maddox and P Rowdy Hardy. Maddox hit .332 with 109 total bases for the Chukars after being a 9th-round pick out of Southern Miss for KC. He also had a .427 OBP and cracked 20 doubles and tied for the team lead with 38 RBI. Hardy was 5-3 with a 2.91 ERA for IF in 14 starts. He walked only 4 and K'd 51 over 77 1/3 IP.

Rookie - AZL: The Royals' Player and Pitcher of the Year were OF Nick Van Stratten and P Brent Fisher. Van Stratten was the team's most consistent player while Fisher was easily the top pitcher on the squad, so those awards were pretty much no-brainers. Van Stratten, a 10th-rounder out of St. Louis CC-Meramec, hit .292 with 46 RS for the Royals. Fisher had a 2.11 ERA over 14 starts with 98 K and 19 BB over 68 1/3 IP. His WHIP was 0.88.

Dominican Summer League - Salcedo Royals: Salcedo's Player and Pitcher of the Year were 1B Diego Cruz and P Eduardo Paulino. Cruz hit .330 in 56 games with 40 RBI, 20 BB and 20 K. He's also only 18. Paulino was 9-1 with a 1.55 ERA over 17 games for Salcedo. He K'd 44 and walked 12 over 69 2/3 IP. Salcedo also advanced to the DSL playoffs.