Red Wings win first International League title since 1997
By: Mateo Ortiz
MEMPHIS, T.N. — The Rochester Red Wings went into game three of the International League Championship Series, looking to clinch their first International League title since 1997 against the Memphis Redbirds on Thursday night at AutoZone Park. A late-game comeback by the Red Wings and stellar work in the bullpen late would give the Red Wings a 3-2 win, as well as bring a AAA championship to the Flower City for the first time since 1997.
On the mound for the Red Wings was Zak Kent as the starter for the decisive game three. Before the start, Kent had posted a 4-0 record with a 4.89 ERA in 56 ⅔ innings pitched with the Red Wings. The Redbirds started Hancel Rincon, who posted a 7-6 record with a 3.82 ERA IN 77 ⅔ innings pitched for Memphis this season.
The Red Wings were looking to put the 15-4 loss the previous night behind them, and in the top of the first inning, they did just that with a Riley Adams two-out single that scored SS Seaver King to give Rochester the early 1-0 advantage. This was Adams' second RBI of the postseason, as he drove in a run on Tuesday night in game one of the International League Championship Series.
Kent pitched the first three innings of the game and allowed zero runs on zero hits, while allowing one walk and striking out three. Max Kranick relieved Kent in the fourth inning and did the same as Kent, while not allowing a walk and striking out one.
Rincon would be pulled after two innings, allowing three hits and an earned run, which came from the Adams RBI single.
The Red Wings had an opportunity to add on to their lead in the top of the third as they had runners on second and third with nobody out. Two straight strikeouts, however, by Redbirds RP Max Fernandez and a Leandro Pineda groundout would prevent any additional scoring from happening, keeping the score at bae.
Rochester had eight hits through five innings, while the Redbirds were being no-hit heading into the bottom of the fifth. That would all change, however just one out into the inning as LF Zach Levenson hit a game-tying home run to left-center field off of a hanging slider by Red Wings RP Jake Bird. This was Levenson's second home run of the series, as he hit one to left field in game one off of Red Wings starter Matt Krook.
Bird would be relieved by Joe Glassey after he allowed a walk to Redbirds 2B Noah Mendlinger. Glassey prevented further damage by striking out 1B Trey Paige, which turned into a double play after Red Wings C Maxwell Romero Jr. threw out Mendlinger at second base.
The Red Wings had an opportunity to retake the lead in the top of the seventh after a leadoff walk by Romero Jr. Nothing would come to fruition for Rochester, however, as the following batter 1B Liover Peguero would strike out, King grounded out to third, and 2B Trey Lipscomb popped out to second. Through seven innings, the Red Wings had stranded seven runners on base.
After a leadoff double by Redbirds 3B Ramon Mendoza off of Red Wings RP Clayton Beeter in the bottom half of the inning, Memphis would take their first lead of the night as DH Bligh Madris would hit a double down the right-field line to give the Redbirds their first lead of the winner-take-all matchup. Madris, the eight-year minor league veteran, drove in his third run of the playoffs after hitting a two-run home run the previous night.
The Red Wings would tie the game up in the top of the eighth inning after a Pineda two-out double. CF Andrew Pinckney would hit a double into the right-center field gap, driving in Pineda. Cortland Lawson, who pinch-hit for LF Sam Petersen after he went down with an injury in his previous at-bat, would drive in Pinckney on a base hit up the middle, giving Rochester a 3-2 lead. Lawson, heading into the postseason, had struggled hitting on the road, only posting a .213 batting average in 164 at-bats.
Video credit: @RocRedWings on X
Pinckney described what was going through his head during the crucial at-bat postgame.
"He had some good stuff, and I knew it was going to be a battle," Pinckney said. "I kind of knew he was going to spin me and try to get me to hit something on the ground. I kind of gave in a little bit early, chased two sliders in the dirt, and then he finally left one in for a strike. I was on it, just shot it to right field, and the rest is history," Pinckney added.
Pinckney and Lawson were teammates in AA with the Harrisburg Senators in 2024. Pinckney described his relationship with the Red Wings second baseman and how clutch his late-game at-bat was.
"He's super cool; it's not easy to come off the bench, especially on a whim like that after Petey (Petersen) got hurt and he came in and got possibly the biggest hit of the year," Pinckney said.
Video credit: @RocRedWings on X
Lawson is no stranger to playing in championship games; in 2022 with the University of Tennessee, he was a major contributor to a team that won an SEC championship. He talked about what a championship at the professional level means to him.
"It's high-level baseball and winning this just means a lot to me," Lawson said. "I was just trying to control all the emotions I could, and I think I did a pretty good job, but it definitely got out there at the end for sure," Lawson added.
The 26-year-old infielder had only just received the call-up to AAA two weeks prior during the Red Wings homestand against the Scranton Wilkes/Barre RailRiders. Even though he said this moment does rank high in his baseball career, he won't rank it as high as his championship with Tennessee just yet.
"It's up there for sure, I don't know if it's better," Lawson said. "If we win in Vegas then it probably will be better, but it's definitely hand in hand with it," Lawson added.
Eddy Yean would come on for the Red Wings in the bottom of the ninth inning, and after a near scare from Redbirds RF Chase Davis, who nearly tied the game off of a deep fly ball to center field, Yean would get Levenson to ground out to third base to give Rochester the 3-2 win and officially bring the Red Wings their first International League championship since 1997.
Video credit: @RocRedWings on X
Red Wings manager Matt LeCroy mentioned postgame how last night's blowout loss may have helped Rochester pull off the victory on Thursday night.
"We got beat up yesterday pretty bad, but I actually think that it was to our advantage, because a lot of our guys that we'd been using in some leverage spots, and that showed there down the stretch," LeCroy said.
This season marked a 31-win turnaround compared to last season for the Red Wings. They finished the 2025 season with a 59-88 overall record, which was the worst in the International League. Before 2026, under the affiliation of the Washington Nationals for the past six years, the Red Wings have only had a record above .500 once. LeCroy made sure to give a lot of praise to not only the fans who have stuck with this team through thick and thin, but the baseball operations staff as a whole as well.
"The fans, the front office, the baseball club, they're so passionate about the Red Wings," LeCroy said. "They just support you in so many ways; they had my back in some of the tough seasons we've had here. They've trusted us and supported me for all these years, and for us to do this makes me so happy," LeCroy added.
Despite giving up the go-ahead Redbirds run in the seventh inning, Beeter was credited with the win for the Red Wings, while Yean was credited with the save, bringing him to 10 total on the season, with the save tonight being his first this postseason. Matt Svanson was credited with the loss for the Redbirds as he allowed the two eighth-inning runs.
The Red Wings will now face the winner of the Pacific Coast League Championship Series, the Oklahoma City Comets, on Saturday night in Las Vegas, Nevada. First pitch for Saturday's Triple-A National Championship Game is scheduled for 10:05 pm EDT. The Comets defeated the Las Vegas Aviators on Thursday night 5-2 to become the champions of the Pacific Coast League, their second in franchise history, with the first coming in 2023. Saturday's matchup will be a battle between one and two in AAA in terms of overall records, as the Comets finished second overall with an 89-60 record, compared to the Red Wings, who finished with a 90-58 record. This will be the first time that these two teams have matched up with each other.
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