OKC Dodgers sweep Round Rock Express to win Pacific Coast League championship

Travis Barbary recognized early on that he had a special group.

The Oklahoma City manager marveled at a Dodgers’ squad that tore through the first half of the Pacific Coast League schedule by winning games late in dramatic fashion, excelling both on the mound and at the plate, and doing so with a demeanor that never quit and always lifted up teammates.

As a result, Oklahoma City minor league baseball has its first league championship in 27 years.

“These guys are really excited and they really wanted to win this,” Barbary said after OKC defeated Round Rock, 5-2, in the second game of the best-of-three PCL Championship Series in front of a crowd of 5,923 celebratory souls Wednesday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. “After the game, they kept saying, ‘One more, one more.’ I’m so happy for them and they have been playing hard all year. It’s really exciting.”

The league crown is the fifth in 63 years of Triple-A baseball for OKC, and the first since the 89ers won the second of two American Association championships in a five-year span (1992, 1996) three decades ago. Before that, one had to look to the 1960s, when the 89ers claimed PCL titles in 1963 and 1965.

“It’s pretty amazing when you start to think about the length of time that has passed,” OKC President/General Manager Michael Byrnes said. “But it’s particularly meaningful because we are celebrating 25 years at this ballpark. So what a great way to cap off the year.”

After falling one game short of first place in the PCL Eastern Division last year, the Dodgers felt they had a returning cast that could get over the top. OKC responded by winning 90 regular-season games this year, the most for the franchise since 1965.

“This is something that we have worked for the past nine months, 10 months,” OKC starting pitcher Gavin Stone said. “From the time we got to spring training until this moment, this is what we have worked for and I couldn’t ask for a better group of guys to do it with.”

Stone got off to a shaky start by allowing a leadoff single and back-to-back walks that loaded the bases with no outs in the first inning. A ground ball and force out at home seemed to help settle the fifth-round pick from the 2020 Major League Baseball draft.

“I didn’t get ahead of the first three guys, so that was really it,” said Stone, who made five appearances in the big leagues this season. “Credit to my defense, making the play at home. That was big for us. Just got to stay in the zone. When you get strike one, it helps a lot.”

Beginning with the crucial force play at home, Stone retired 18 of 19 Round Rock batters, including 10 by strikeout. He exited the game with one out in the seventh inning after allowing four hits and two runs with two walks.

“He realized at that point that they weren’t going to be able to beat him,” Barbary said. “He went back out, was aggressive and got a lot of swing and miss. Just made pitches. It was a lot of fun to watch.”

OKC right fielder Jonny DeLuca got the Dodgers on the scoreboard with a two-run home run in the bottom of the second inning. After Round Rock cut the deficit in half at 2-1, OKC slugger Michael Busch came to the plate with two baserunners on and one out in the fifth.

“I saw a curveball in, got to a 3-2 count, just tried to put a barrel in,” Busch said. “I knew it was a close game and every run mattered at that point, so just trying to put the ball in play and something good happened.”

Something good, indeed. Busch drilled an opposite-field home run over the left-field fence that gave the Dodgers some cushion at 5-1.

It was the latest in a fantastic year of slugging for the 31^st-overall pick in 2019. Busch's 27 home runs in the regular season led the team, helped promote him to Los Angeles for 27 big-league games and get recognized as the Dodgers’ Minor League Player of the Year by both the parent club and Baseball America.

“He’s been awesome,” Barbary said. “It’s so fun to be able to watch him play every day. Every time he walks to the plate, you feel like he is going to do something special. Just really happy for him. It has been an amazing year for him. Making his debut in the big leagues this year and then coming back and continuing to perform well. Having him on this club is so much fun.”

In spite of the raucous clubhouse celebration that followed the game, there is still fun to be had. The Dodgers will now converge on Las Vegas for Saturday’s Triple-A National Championship Game against the Norfolk Tide, the champion of the International League.

“We want to go there and win, but this is special,” Barbary said. “Winning your league and after 150 games, being able to win the two playoff games here, it means a lot to these guys and to this organization. Just very thankful to be a part of it.”

More: 'Lost art' led R.A. Dickey to enter OKC Triple-A Baseball Hall of Fame inaugural class

Pacific Coast League Championship Series

Best-of-three series at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark:

Game 1: OKC Dodgers 8, Round Rock Express 3

Game 2: OKC Dodgers 5, Round Rock Express 2

Triple-A National Championship Game

• Who: OKC Dodgers (Pacific Coast League champion) vs. Norfolk Tide (International League champion)

• When: 9 p.m. Saturday

• Where: Las Vegas Ballpark in Summerlin, Nevada

• TV: MLB Network

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC Dodgers sweep Round Rock Express to win PCL championship