Giving up the hair
for the cause

After clinching the Northern League South Division second-half championship with our regular-season-ending win over the Joliet Jackhammers, things have gone 1,000 mph for all of us with the Gary SouthShore RailCats organization.

First off, there was last week's South Division championship series, which had us facing the St. Paul Saints, the league's defending champion and one of the traditional powers of the Northern League.

After splitting the first two games of the series in Minnesota, we returned home to play the final three games of the set. St. Paul won the third game to move within a single victory of winning the Division Championship Series and, with it, a berth in the Northern League Championship Series.

With our backs against the wall a game from ending our season, we battled, and scrapped, and won Games 4 and 5 to capture the NL's South Division title, which was tough to do, considering we came to the ballpark each day knowing that it could be the last of our season.

Life since advancing to the league championship series has surely not been any less stressful. If having to report to the ballpark with uncertainty during the division series was hard, driving in from Merrillville to Gary to the U.S. Steelyard today was absolutely insane.

The morning after winning Game 5 against the Saints, we boarded our team bus and made the 12-hour trip to Fargo, N.D., to face the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks, who are practically the New York Yankees of the Northern League.

With something like nine postseason appearances over the last 10 years -- six trips to the championship series and two league titles -- Fargo-Moorhead has been the class of the circuit for more than a decade now.

This season was more of the same and then some for the Redhawks, who absolutely dominated the NL's North Division, winning both halves during the regular season and the postseason crown as well. Behind four-time league manager of the year Doug Simunic, Fargo set a league record for wins with 68, and won 27 of 28 games at one point, which is unheard of in professional baseball.

At some point during a hot streak, minor league teams usually trip and fall every once in a while, usually when they run into another team's ace or something of the like. But Fargo had a lot of things figured out this season, and it showed.

Needless to say, opening the best-of-five championship series with two games in Fargo was a daunting task.

After losing Game 1, 5-1, we responded with an early lead the next day, moving out to a 4-1 advantage entering the bottom of the fifth. But Fargo was not ready to end its 20-game home win streak, battling back to beat us, 5-4.

When I woke up this morning and started to get ready for the big day, I was still a little groggy. After all, we lost a heartbreaker, jumped back onto the team bus, and then made the 12-hour return drive to Northwest Indiana, arriving back in Gary at about 10:30 a.m.

As I made my way out of bed and fumbled around to find the TV remote control, I was still quite out of sorts. About 20 minutes later, I was cleaned up and dressed to begin my day outside of the hotel room.

I really wouldn't go to the extent of saying that I'm superstitious, but today, with a 2-0 deficit in the championship series and the end of a very special season looming, I was looking for any edge I could get.

First off, I decided I needed to cut my hair. Kind of in that in between stage of hair growth, I committed to cropping my hair, since we were 0-2 without the haircut. So I decided to give it a try.

But first, I had to decide what to wear to the ballpark today. So I went with my old faithful pair of jeans and my favorite shoes, after changing a couple of times, of course.

After the haircut, I headed to the Panera Bread Co. here in Merrillville, as I'm sure my friend and teammate and roommate of the last two minor league seasons, Bryce Uegawachi, could have predicted, since we ate lunch at the Panera in Kenosha, Wis., and then the one in Springfield, Mo., just about every day during the past two years.

I decided on the Tuscan Chicken sandwich and the Boston Clam Chowder. It was quite good.

Once I arrived at the stadium, I wavered back and forth, as I tried to repeat as many of the pregame activities I did during the St. Paul series.

There were a lot of questions I asked myself today after our pregame batting practice.

Did I polish my game turfs before Game 5 against St. Paul? Which long sleeves did I wear, the UnderArmour cold gear, or the MLB cotton turtleneck I got from my buddy Ryan Arasato? Did I wear our fleece pullover top, or our heavy team jacket?

After about 20 minutes of confusion, I finally got dressed for the game and made my way out to the field.

With about 4,000 fans in the yard, the game was as energetic as one would think.

With the home team on the brink of elimination, they cheered and screamed and shouted with every out, every pitch.

We fell behind quickly, trailing 2-0 after three. But with our lefty Cody Fisher regaining his excellent postseason form and our offense posting rally after rally, we held off the Redhawks for another day, winning 7-3.

A moment to exhale. And I do mean a moment. Another day of postseason baseball, and still alive in the hunt for the league crown. A win tomorrow would bring us another tomorrow. Now I just need to remember what I did today and repeat it tomorrow.

I may not be THAT superstitious, but I'm not taking any chances, either.

Editor's note: The Gary SouthShore RailCats beat the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks 12-4 yesterday to force a deciding Game 5 today in the Northern League Championship Series.