Red Wings lose heartbreaker in Triple-A National Championship game

By: Mateo Ortiz

For the first time in franchise history, the Rochester Red Wings faced off against a team outside of the International League as they faced the Oklahoma City Comets of the Pacific Coast League in the Triple-A National Championship Game on Saturday night in Las Vegas. After holding a 2-0 lead heading into the eighth inning, a late-game collapse by the bullpen would prove costly for the Red Wings and their hopes at their first national championship, as they would lose to the Comets 5-3 in 10 innings.

Both teams came off decisive Game 3 wins in their respective league championship series on Thursday night: the Red Wings beat the Memphis Redbirds 3-2, and the Comets defeated the Las Vegas Aviators 5-2.

On the mound for both teams were two righties. For the Red Wings, it was Jack Cebert who got the start; in the regular season, he accumulated a 5-6 record with a 4.03 ERA across three levels of the minor leagues (A+, AA, AAA). He was traded from the New York Yankees minor league system to the Washington Nationals minor league system on Aug. 2, 2026.

For the Comets, it was Emmet Sheehan who got the nod. The 26-year-old started only four games for Oklahoma City in the regular season but posted a 1-0 record with a blistering 1.50 ERA. With the Los Angeles Dodgers in the majors, he went 5-8 with a 4.57 ERA in 112 1/3 innings across 23 appearances.

The Comets would bat first as the away team in this neutral-site matchup. After allowing the first two Comets batters, RF Zach Ehrhard and LF Josue De Paula, who is ranked the sixth-best prospect in all of baseball, on from a single and a walk, Cebert would get himself out of a first-inning jam by getting 1B James Tibbs III to fly out, DH Mike Sirota to pop out, and CF Alek Thomas to strike out.

Rochester would have the same opportunity as Oklahoma City in the bottom half of the inning with runners on the corners with two outs. Unlike the Comets, however, the Red Wings were able to capitalize as RF Leandro Pineda ripped a single into right field, scoring 3B Cayden Wallace to give them the early 1-0 lead.

Video credit: @RocRedWings on X

Red Wings 1B Liover Peguero in the following inning would double the Rochester lead as he hit a 454ft solo home run over the left-field wall. Peguero had only four home runs in the regular season in 103 games in the minors across the Philadelphia Phillies and Nationals organizations. Three of those home runs came with the Red Wings after he joined the team in August.

Video credit: @RocRedWings on X

Cebert would be pulled after two innings for the Nationals' number three prospect RHP, Jarlin Susana. The final line for Cebert consisted of one hit and a walk allowed, along with two strikeouts.

Susana, the flamethrowing righty, went two innings, allowing only one hit along with a strikeout. His fastball topped out at 104mph and was consistently in the 101- 103 mph range during the outing.

The Red Wings would use their third and fourth pitchers in the game in the fifth and sixth innings. RHP Joe Glassey allowed no runs in the fifth with just one walk allowed, and RHP Max Kranick pitched the sixth inning, allowing one hit and striking out one with no runs allowed. In the fifth inning, SS Seaver King would make a highlight-reel play to keep the bases cleared.

Video credit: @RocRedWings on X

Sheehan would pitch 5 1/3 innings for the Comets, allowing six hits and two earned runs, along with three walks, while also striking out seven Red Wings batters in the process. RHP Kyle Hunt would come into the game in relief for Sheehan and turn an inning-ending double play on Peguero on the first pitch he threw.

The Comets had a prime opportunity to get back into the game in the top of the seventh with runners on first and second and one out, but Red Wings RHP Erick Mejia was able to retire Ehrhard via a fielder's choice and De Paula via a flyout to left field.

In the following inning, however, the Comets would get on the board as Sirota singled to right field off Red Wings RHP Eddy Yean, driving in Tibbs III to cut the deficit to one. Following a sac bunt by Thomas, 3B Ryan Fitzgerald, who led all of minor league baseball in hits, lined a ball off the left-center field wall, bringing home Sirota and tying the game at two. Yean would strike out the following batter, SS Noah Miller, but would be pulled from the game for RHP Kyle Nicolas. The righty would strike out 2B Hyeseong Kim to get out of the inning.

Nicolas would pitch the ninth inning, striking out former Red Wings C Ben Rortvedt, allowing a single to Ehrhard, and getting De Paula to ground into a 4-6-3 double play to end the top of the ninth.

In the bottom of the ninth, Red Wings C Maxwell Romero Jr. hit a soft ground ball to third that he would beat out and reach safely at first. The next batter, Peguero, grounded into a fielder's choice. The hero from Thursday night, Cortland Lawson, drew a walk that would ultimately be the end of the night for Comets RHP Paul Gervase.

RHP Seth Halverson would come into the game without warming up for the Comets. Red Wings SS Seaver King would ground into a fielder's choice, advancing the winning run, Peguero, to third. The next batter, Trey Lipscomb, however, would fly out to center field. Ending the inning and sending the Triple-A National Championship Game into extra innings.

The only other time the Triple-A National Championship Game went into extra innings was in 2009, when the Durham Bulls defeated the aforementioned Redbirds 5-4 in 11 innings. The one major difference in this game, however, was that the "ghost runner" rule would be in effect, giving both teams a runner at second base to start the inning.

RHP Clayton Beeter would come in for the Red Wings in the 10th inning. Beeter would walk the bases loaded to start the inning, walking Sirota and Tibbs III. The following batter, Thomas, would hit a double into left-center field that would clear the bases and give Oklahoma City a 5-2 lead. This would end the night for Beeter and bring in LHP Matt Krook. The southpaw would retire the next three batters, Fitzgerald, Miller, and Kim, without any extra damage done. Rochester would need three runs to send the game to the 11th, or four runs to win a national championship.

The bottom half of the tenth would start with an infield single by Wallace; the following batter, Adams, would ground into a double play; the ghost runner Peguero, however, would score, cutting the Comets' lead to 5-3. Pineda would strike out looking to Halverson, ending the game and giving the Oklahoma City Comets a 5-3 win and their first Triple-A National Championship in franchise history.

Halvorson would be credited with the win with 1 2/3 innings of work, allowing one hit, a walk, along with the game-ending strikeout. Beeter was credited with the loss; he did not record an out and allowed two walks. The righty only allowed one hit, but the one hit he did allow proved costly for the Red Wings and their season.

As previously mentioned, this was the first National Championship title for the Comets; they had one other appearance in 2023, where they lost to the Norfolk Tides 7-6.

The 2027 season for the Red Wings starts on Friday, Mar. 26, 2027, when they host the Syracuse Mets at ESL Ballpark.