It was just a year ago, the LumberKings were pushing for a playoff spot in the first half and slugging first basemen Ryan Costello was leading the way. Over less then a year in Clinton, the Connecticut native became one of the most beloved figures for baseball fans in the small Iowa town that learned early Monday morning of his passing at the age of 23 while playing for the Auckland.
On Saturday, October 12 during college football and an MLB playoff game, the graduate school of professional baseball (the Arizona Fall League) will host its annual All-Star Game. Some of the best minor league prospects will be on hand with four former LumberKings spread over the East and West All-Star teams.
While the Minor League season came to an end with a deep - but ultimately disappointing - playoff run, there are still Clinton LumberKings playing. Of the ten teams to qualify for the Major League playoffs eight players and coaches have roots going back to time spent in Clinton.
The 2019 season has come and gone, and with it, the Clinton LumberKings 64th season in the Midwest League. In many ways it was a record setting year for the year-one Single-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins. By season's end, Miami sent seven of their top 30 prospects through Clinton, won 78 regular season games, and returned to the Midwest League Championship Series for the eighth time in franchise history.
The 2019 season came to an end for the Clinton LumberKings with a 5-0 loss to the South Bend Cubs. Clinton mustered just two hits in the game as they were swept in a best-of-five-game Midwest League Championship Series for just the second time in club history.
A wild pitch in the bottom of the 10th was the deciding factor in a Clinton LumberKings 3-2, 10-inning loss, to the South Bend Cubs at Four Winds Field on Thursday night. The final road game of the year pulls South Bend to within one win of the Midwest League title.
The Clinton LumberKings are going back to the Midwest League Championship Series, punching their ticket with a 6-2 win over the Cedar Rapids Kernels. The LumberKings win marks their third trip to the Championship Series over the last ten seasons.
A ninth inning rally by the Kernels was the difference in a Game Two, 3-2, loss by the LumberKings on Sunday night. Tanner Andrews six strong innings of work went to waste in the Clinton loss that will force a third and decisive game on Monday night.
Jake Walters threw seven no-hit innings and the Clinton LumberKings completed a sweep of the Cougars to advance to the Western Division Championship Series with a 10-1 win. A hit barrage of 16 hits by the LumberKings buried the Cougars int eh second game of the best of three-game set.
