Wingnuts quickly turn focus to playoffs

The greatest regular season in Wingnuts history is an immediate afterthought.

By winning an American Association record 73 games — five more than the record they held for one season — the Wingnuts ensured they can only be judged by how they fare in the postseason.

Wichita at least has a strong track record against its first-round opponent, Laredo, which it beat 4-1 in Monday’s season finale at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium for its 14^th win in 17 games against the Lemurs this season.

Records and track records have held little weight for the Wingnuts in the postseason, though. After winning 68 games in 2013 and playing well against Gary-SouthShore during the regular season, it was Gary-SouthShore which captured the championship on the Wingnuts’ field.

The Wingnuts set the league wins record last week and clinched the South division championship fairly early last month, but they remained in the moment enough to earn a four-game sweep against their closest divisional competitors and postseason opponents.

The best-of-five series begins in Laredo on Wednesday night.

“Just keep doing what we’re doing,” Wingnuts manager Kevin Hooper said. “No added pressure on anybody. Continue to do what got us there, would be the plan, is to continue to do what got us into the situation, and if we do that we should be fine.

“I like going into the playoffs with some (wins) on our side, too. We’ve played some really good baseball here for the last – for the whole season, I guess I should say.”

Wichita finished 25-5 over the final month-plus, which included a three-weak road trip during which the Wingnuts lost four times. The four-game sweep of Laredo bookended a season series that started with the Wingnuts winning the first eight games and continued with several one-sided victories.

The constant for the Wingnuts has been wins, and while several cornerstones have lasted the entire season, Wichita has rarely missed when looking for re-enforcements. Those have included David Espinosa and Abel Nieves, who have thrived after being placed into the middle of the order late in the season.

They’ve also included an on-the-fly revamping of the pitching staff after several departures. Ace Jon Link was sold to the Florida Marlins organization immediately before a late-August start, and the Wingnuts eventually found right-hander Celson Polanco to take his place.

In Polanco, the Wingnuts don’t have another ace. But the 6-foot-4, 250-pound Polanco pitches with the confidence of a top-of-the-rotation starter and someone who worked his way into the postseason plans, unlikely for a pitcher picked up so late.

“I like him,” Hooper said of Polanco. “Big presence, because he’s a big guy. We’ll see what happens here in the postseason, but the plan is for him to go in Game 4.”

The Wingnuts won just about every kind of game against Laredo over the last four days, capturing a Sunday slugfest, winning in lopsided fashion on Friday and Saturday, and holding onto a relatively slim lead on Monday.

Laredo may be psychologically affected by the Wingnuts’ supremacy, but it could also work the other way if Wichita becomes overconfident. That doesn’t seem to have ever been a problem for Hooper’s team, and the manager doesn’t suspect it will be now.

“We start over now,” Hooper said. “This meant nothing for them. There was really nothing for either side to play for. Just for pride. Every time we show up, we plan on winning a ballgame. We did that all weekend long, and we’re going to do that again on Wednesday night.”

This story was originally published September 2, 2014 at 7:09 AM with the headline "Wingnuts quickly turn focus to playoffs."