Winnipeg Goldeyes going to deciding game in West Division Championship after Fargo comeback win

Posted on September 11, 2024 by Peggy

It’ll be one game, winner-take-all between the Winnipeg Goldeyes and the longtime rival Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks.

The best-of-three West Division Championship series is headed to a deciding Game 3 after the RedHawks overcame a three-run deficit to avoid elimination with a 5-3 Game 2 win on Wednesday at Blue Cross Park.

The Goldeyes jumped out to an early three-run lead and were just four outs away from a trip to the Wolff Cup Final when it all came crashing down. The RedHawks scored a pair of runs in the eighth inning to take their first lead of the game and added an insurance run in the ninth as they hung on for the victory. The Goldeyes had just left the bases loaded in the seventh inning.

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The RedHawks pounded out 13 hits with Peter Brookshaw hitting a sixth inning, solo home run.

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All of the Goldeyes runs came in the third inning. A bases loaded passed ball provided the Goldeyes first run, and Max Murphy followed it up with a two-run single, but that’s all the Goldeyes could muster.

Making his first start of the playoffs, Goldeyes pitcher Zac Reininger lasted only three and two-thirds innings. He surrendered seven hits in a no-decision. Reliever Thomas Ponticelli took the loss after giving up the go-ahead run in the eighth inning.

The do-or-die Game 3 is scheduled for Thursday again in Winnipeg. The winner will face the Kane County Cougars in the championship series after they swept the Chicago Dogs with a 3-2 Game 2 victory.