SPRINGDALE -- After a mad dash down the final stretch of the regular season just fighting to qualify for the Class AA Central Championship Series, it didn't take the Northwest Arkansas Naturals long to prove that they belonged.
Freddy Fermin knocked in three runs and Brewer Hicklen crushed his 17th home run of the season Tuesday night as the Naturals produced a late-game surge to defeat Wichita 7-5 in Game 1 of the best-of-5 series at Arvest Ballpark.
Northwest Arkansas will host the Wind Surge again tonight in Game 2. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m., as right-hander Yefri Del Rosario (2-4, 5.99 ERA) will lead the Naturals against Wichita right-hander Col Sands (4-2, 2.46 ERA).
"It's definitely nice to win the first one, and it's definitely good for the guys," Naturals Manager Scott Thorman said. "I thought it was a tremendous baseball game. It just went back and forth with some excellent defensive plays."
Leobaldo Cabrera got Wichita out to a 1-0 lead with a solo home run in the top of second inning, despite Austin Cox striking out the side in the inning.
Northwest Arkansas responded in the bottom of the inning with a two-out rally to even the score at 1-1. Jimmy Govern singled, then scored on Blake Perkins' triple down the right-field line.
Wichita second-baseman D.J. Burt put the Wind Surge back on top in the third with another solo shot off Cox. But it was another two-out rally in the bottom of the third that gave the Naturals their first lead of the game. Meibrys Viloria got it started with a walk, then Seuly Matias and Freddy Fermin had back-to-back run-scoring doubles to put Northwest Arkansas up 3-2.
The see-saw battle continued in the fourth, as Cabrera tied the score again for Wichita with a double to drive in Jermaine Palacious.
The Naturals then scored for the third consecutive inning,and retook the lead when Viloria drew a bases-loaded walk to Viloria to make it 4-3.
Cox was then relieved by right-hander Stephen Woods Jr., who was able to get through the fifth inning unscathed, but surrendered the tying run to the Wind Surge in the sixth on a leadoff homer by Palacious. After getting an out, Woods walked Andrew Bechtold, prompting Thorman to bring in Josh Dye. The lefty proceeded to hold Wichita hitless for 2 1/3 innings.
"The pitchers stepped up and gave us a chance," Thorman said. "Josh Dye was incredible in those swing innings in the middle there, then Jose Cuas nailed it down for us."
Northwest Arkansas displayed its stellar defense in the seventh to hold Wichita at bay. Viloria, the Naturals' catcher, gunned down Austin Martin trying the steal second. Brewer Hicklin then ended the inning when he chased down a deep fly off the bat of Spencer Steer, crashing into the left-field wall.
With one out in the bottom of the seventh, Hicklin blasted the first pitch he saw over the center-field wall to give the Naturals a 5-4 lead.
"That play Brewer made running into the wall, then to follow it up with a go-ahead homer un was pretty incredible," Thorman said. "It was definitely a momentum shift. We are always looking for that little bit of an edge, and we got it there."
The Naturals added a pair of insurance runs in the eighth, when Fermin singled in Guzman and Viloria to make it 7-4.
Northwest Arkansas went 15-9 down the stretch, winning three of its final four series and splitting the other one. The Naturals won the season series 10-8 against the Wind Surge, the Class AA affiliate of the Minnesota Twins.
Thorman is no stranger to postseason success. He managed High-A Wilmington to the Carolina League Championship last season, and Class A Lexington to the South Atlantic League title in 2018. Each year, he has found a way to deal with the constant roster shifts of minor league baseball.
"It's not about me, it's about the players," he said. "A lot of our players have been through it before, so hopefully that helps settle the nerves a little bit and just allows them to go up there and play like they have been all year. I think we are comfortable being a little uncomfortable in those tight games. We have played in plenty of tight days over the past two weeks trying to get where we are at. Our guys came out ready to play today and they are feeling good."