Ten Things to Know in the American Association Before the Playoffs Begin
Published on August 28, 2025 under American Association (AA) News Release
MOORHEAD, Minn. - With just a handful of games remaining, six of the eight American Association of Professional Baseball (@AA_Baseball) postseason berths are set, but seven of the eight seeds are still in flux. Chicago (49-45) has rallied to within three games of first-place Lake Country (52-42) in the East, while Sioux City (61-34) leads the West and continues to hold onto the league's best record, clinching the division and home field advantage throughout the playoffs last night. All regular season and postseason games in the MLB Partner League remain free for live viewing on AABaseball.tv.
Here are 10 (or so) Things to Know about the AAPB this week:
After a dominant 14-strikeout performance last Friday, Monarchs ace Julian Garcia has signed with the Cincinnati Reds. Through four August starts, Garcia racked up 44 strikeouts and earned three wins. He also set Kansas City's single-season strikeout record (163) and came within four of the AAPB single-season record.
Playoff Primer: A few notes on the 2025 AAPB Wolff Cup:
Top four teams in the East and West divisions advance, with each regular season champion selecting their best-of-three Division Series (Sept. 3-6) opponent
Those winners play in the best-of-five Division Championship (Sept. 8-13), for the right to face the other in the Wolff Cup Final (Sept. 15-20), also best-of-five
Lower seed host Game 1 and higher seed hosts Games 2 & 3 (if necessary) in Division Series. Lower seed host Games 1 & 2 and higher seed hosts Games 3, 4 (if necessary) & 5 (if necessary) in Division Series and Final.
Kane County is the defending AAPB champion
Fans looking past the standings as the playoffs approach can view the penultimate regular season AAPB power rankings, which saw Kansas City (2nd) and Sioux Falls (3rd) jump one slot each, behind last week's leader Sioux City. Chicago leaps to fourth as it closed the gap to just two games behind East leader Lake Country, which dropped out of the top five despite the division edge.
Most on-field AAPB Postseason awards such as All-Stars at each position, Rookie, Player, Manager of the Year, etc., will be announced next week.
Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks infielder José Sermo and Kane County Cougars starter Chris Mazza won the American Association's Carbliss batter and pitcher of the week for the week ending Sunday. Sermo drove in 15 runs while hitting .478 (11-for-23) with two doubles, three home runs and five runs scored. Mazza, the former big leaguer with three teams, fired 11 1/3 shutout innings across two starts.
Sioux City's Nate Gercken has pitched 220 games, now tied for second all-time in the American Association, matching Dustin Cameron (2006-2014 with six teams). The top spot all-time in the league is Victor Capellan with 282 (2014-2020, 2024 mostly with Winnipeg).
Speaking of records, two current Kane County Cougars hold team marks, including Jake Gozzo, most saves - 17 and counting; and Konnor Ash, most strikeouts, 127 and counting. Ash is also on watch to tie most wins (11, currently at 10), best ERA (2.94 or better, currently at 2.59)
Two trades with postseason implications went down this week, with OF Jairus Richards (.247/.381/.432, 10 HR, 37 RBI,) going from Gary to Fargo-Moorhead and infielder Brantley Bell (.308/.353/.493, 11 HR, 40 RBI) moving from Chicago to Kansas City.
It hasn't been the kind of season that Gary SouthShore fans had hoped for, but the RailCats have been a handful down the stretch, posting a 20-8 mark since July 26. After one more game tonight at Kane County, they host Lincoln for four season-ending games Friday through Monday.
Sioux Falls is offering free tickets to all kids 12 and under to attend Friday's game vs. Fargo-Moorhead, the weekend wraparound series opener between two West division playoff qualifiers.
The Winnipeg Goldeyes announced on Wednesday that they will be hosting a double-feature movie night featuring two all-time classics- The Princess Bride and Raiders of the Lost Ark- shown on the ballpark's giant HD video board on Sept. 20.
In other team entertainment news, the Kansas City Monarchs will host two festivals at Legends Field this fall. The KC Blues & Jazz Festival '25 will take place on Friday, October 3 and Saturday, October 4, followed by the Funkenstein Fest '25 on Friday, October 24 and Saturday, October 25.
Some of this week's notable promotions across the league include:
Pope Leo is for sure the biggest baseball fan ever to call the Apostolic Palace home, and the first 1500 Kane County Cougars fans at tonight's game vs. Gary SouthShore can celebrate the pontiff with a Pope Leo Bobblehead giveaway. The Cougars recognize another notable baseball fan with a Snoopy bobblehead giveaway on Saturday.
The Cougars go all out the rest of the final weekend of the regular season, too, with Star Wars night in collaboration with Autism Awareness Night on Saturday and Neon Night, "America's Got Talent's" Grace Good appearance and pregame concerts both days.
Gary SouthShore closes out the regular season with Fan Appreciation Night on Monday, which includes a team card giveaway.
Lake Country is making the whole final week into Fan Appreciation Nights at Wisconsin Brewing Company Park. It begins with the rescheduled Drone Show presented by Spiderz Batting Gloves tonight.
The Kansas City Monarchs are celebrating the region's rich heritage with the fourth annual HBCU Greek Night on Friday.
The Milwaukee Milkmen will honor firefighters, police officers, EMTs, paramedics and others in first responder roles when they hold Defenders Night on Saturday, with free tickets for first responders.
American Association Stories from August 28, 2025
- Canaries Start Hot, Roll Past Explorers - Sioux Falls Canaries
- Saltdogs Wrap up Home Schedule with Win - Lincoln Saltdogs
- RailCats Explode for 14-Runs, Capture Series - Gary SouthShore Railcats
- Ten Things to Know in the American Association Before the Playoffs Begin - AA
- Goldeyes Lock up Series Win with Victory in Fargo - Winnipeg Goldeyes
- Sioux City Capture West Division Title - Sioux City Explorers
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