Lee Orr paid close attention to how Bowling Green closer Austin Hubbard pitched Fort Wayne teammate Mike Gallic.The TinCaps trailed the Hot Rods by a run in the ninth May 20 at Parkview Field.COMSTOCK PARK, Mich. – The strong scent of champagne could be smelled from the hallway outside the visiting locker room at Fifth Third Ballpark. Chants of “heeeey” could be heard, as well.
After a 70-game fight during the second half of the season, the TinCaps deserved to party hard.
Fort Wayne clinched a playoff berth on the final day of the regular season with a 7-2 victory against West Michigan.
Rocky Gale and Connor Powers hit solo home runs. The TinCaps added four runs in the ninth. That was plenty, as Keyvius Sampson and three relievers did the rest to send the TinCaps back to the playoffs for the third consecutive year.
Fort Wayne will face the Bowling Green Hot Rods in a best-of-three first-round series. Game 1 starts at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday at Parkview Field.
“The whole year they’ve been battling,” TinCaps manager Shawn Wooten said. “I expected them to show up today and they showed up. Whether we won or loss, as long as they showed up, that’s what I cared about. And that’s what they did. So it was awesome.”
The TinCaps (39-31, 69-70 overall) and Whitecaps (38-32, 70-69) entered the last game tied for the final Eastern Division playoff spot.
Fort Wayne decided to start its ace Sampson on short rest. And he more than delivered.
Sampson gave up one run on five hits in six innings. He struck out eight to improve to 12-3.
“That was as good as I’ve seen him the first three innings,” Wooten said.
Sampson struck out eight of the first 11 batters he faced.
“This is my first time going on four days rest so I didn’t know what I would have in the tank. I was surprised,” Sampson said. “Once you get to this point, you’re adrenaline gets going. I got a little extra.”
The TinCaps received an extra lift from Gale. The catcher belted his first professional homer in the third inning to give Fort Wayne the 1-0 lead.
“It was kind of an accident,” Gale said of the home run that just cleared the left-field fence. “It’s 317 (feet) to left field. I hit it 318.
“It felt nice to get on the board first and get the early run. It was a momentum booster more than anything.”
Fort Wayne led 2-1 in the sixth, but West Michigan had runners on first and second with one out.
Jason Krizan hit a fly ball to center field. Rico Noel made a nice running catch and fired the ball to shortstop B.J. Guinn, who spun around and threw to first for an inning-ending double play.
Powers atoned for dropping a pop-up in the sixth with a line-drive homer leading off the seventh inning.
“I was kind of (ticked),” Powers said of his error. “So I just let it rip (in the seventh). Luckily, I got a pitch to hit. That’s not really the approach you should have, but that’s about as honest I could be.”
Fort Wayne took a 3-2 lead into the ninth. Guinn hit a two-run double. Cory Spangenberg added a two-run single to make it 7-2.
Closer Kevin Quackenbush struck out Hernan Perez looking to end the game. Gale walked to the mound and then jumped into Quackenbush’s arms, setting off the celebration.
“It’s a great feeling,” Guinn said. “We’ve been working hard all season. For six months, and it came down to one game, live-or-go-home and fortunately we came out on the top end of that.”
