Wichita Wind Surge suffer championship heartbreak again, this time with a controversy
A controversial, split-second call by the home-plate umpire during a pivotal moment in a championship elimination game left the Wichita Wind Surge wondering what could have been.
The Wind Surge will have plenty of time to wonder, as their season came to a devastating end in a 7-5 extra-inning loss to the Frisco RoughRiders at Riverfront Stadium on Tuesday night. Frisco won the Texas League championship by sweeping the best-of-3 series with the Game 2 win in Wichita.
But the more than 3,500 Wind Surge fans in attendance on Tuesday only wanted to talk about an apparent blown call on an attempt by Wichita to steal home plate in the bottom of the eighth inning that would have doubled the Wind Surge’s lead.
Here’s the breakdown of the play in question:
Wichita was threatening to extend a 3-2 lead with Jair Camargo up to bat with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning.
The Wind Surge had noticed during the inning that Frisco catcher Scott Kapers was floating the ball particularly high back to pitcher Grant Wolfram after pitches.
After a swinging strike by Camargo to make it a 1-2 count, Kapers stares down Wichita’s Anthony Prato, the runner on third base, before throwing it back to his pitcher. Undeterred by the staredown, Prato takes off in a sprint toward home plate as soon as Kapers begins the throwing motion back to the pitcher. It is unclear if manager Ramon Borrego, the third-base coach, called for the aggressive play or if Prato’s instincts took over.
Prato had a good break and slow-motion replays at Riverfront Stadium appeared to clearly show his left leg touching home plate before Kapers turned and applied a tag.
Home plate umpire Tanner Dobson, who had no luxury of a slow-motion replay, immediately ruled Prato out on the split-second play. Borrego briefly argued Dobson’s decision, but with no ability to challenge the call, backed down.
Instead of Wichita taking a 4-2 lead with Camargo still capable of piling on with two runners on base, the Wind Surge took a 3-2 lead into the ninth inning. And on Tuesday, Wichita’s bullpen was unable to protect a superb start from Brent Headrick, who pitched seven scoreless innings and struck out 11.
Frisco went on to score the game-tying run in the top of the ninth inning, then score four in the top of the 10th inning to ultimately win the game.
It’s clear Wichita had its fair share of chances to close out the victory and force a decisive Game 3 at Riverfront Stadium on Wednesday, but the Wind Surge bullpen faltered and the offense couldn’t deliver with a pair of runners on in the bottom of the ninth inning.
In its first two years of existence as the Minnesota Twins’ Double-A affiliate, the Wind Surge have reached the Texas League championship series both seasons, but they have endured heartbreak both times.
And another year passes before Wichita can bring home its first affiliated baseball league title since 1999.
This story was originally published September 28, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
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