The Lake Country DockHounds staged a late comeback, scoring three runs across the final two innings to edge Adam Hall and the Winnipeg Goldeyes 6-5 in the series opener at Blue Cross Park.
Hall finished 2-for-5 with two RBIs for Winnipeg, but a historic long ball and a clutch ninth-inning rally lifted the DockHounds to victory.
Winnipeg jumped out to an early 3-0 cushion in the bottom of the second inning. Kevin García opened the scoring with an RBI single to center to plate Keshawn Lynch, followed immediately by Hall’s two-run single to center that brought home Jiandido Tromp and García.
Lake Country responded in the fourth when Joshua Mears launched a two-run blast to left field off a Ray Zuberer III single, cutting the deficit to 3-2.
The homer marked Mears' 34th of the season, breaking the American Association single-season record of 33 previously set by Adam Brett Walker of the Milwaukee Milkmen in 2021.
The DockHounds pulled level in the sixth inning after Peter Zimmermann reached on an error and scored on Brett Roberts’ RBI single.
Winnipeg punched right back in the bottom of the frame when Roby Enríquez singled, swiped second base, and came home on Max Murphy’s go-ahead RBI double to right to make it 4-3.
Lake Country tied the game at 4-4 in the eighth courtesy of a Dylan LaRue walk and an RBI double from Jake Allgeyer.
The DockHounds then grabbed their first lead of the night in the top of the ninth:
Zuberer singled, stole second, and Mears drew a walk.
Zimmermann moved both runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt.
Mario Feliciano drove in Zuberer with a go-ahead RBI groundout to make it 5-4.
LaRue added critical insurance with an RBI double to left, plating Mears for a two-run cushion.
The Goldeyes threatened in the bottom of the ninth when García led off with a triple and scored on Ramón Bramasco’s RBI single to pull within one. Pinch-runner Peyton Holt stole second to put the tying run in scoring position, but the DockHounds retired the next three batters to slam the door and lock down the 6-5 victory.
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