For most of the Triple-A National Championship, the Oklahoma City Comets were chasing the Rochester Red Wings. They changed that in the eighth inning, then finished the job in the 10th: a 5–3 victory in Las Vegas on Sept. 26 gave the Comets the first national championship in franchise history. The win came from several timely contributions, capped by Alek Thomas’s bases-loaded double that finally put Oklahoma City ahead.
A comeback built one at-bat at a time
Rochester scored first, bringing a run home on a two-out single in the opening inning. The Red Wings added a solo home run in the second and held Oklahoma City scoreless through seven innings. The Comets had reached the title game after winning the Pacific Coast League championship, but the final offered a fresh test: they needed to solve Rochester’s lead without letting the score dictate the rest of the night.
Their answer began with Mike Sirota in the eighth. His run-scoring single brought the Comets onto the board. Ryan Fitzgerald followed with a double that scored Sirota and tied the game at 2–2. It was a small scoreboard change with a large effect: after spending most of the game behind, Oklahoma City had drawn even and given its pitchers a chance to keep the championship within reach.
Rochester threatened again in the ninth, putting runners at the corners with two outs. Seth Halvorsen got the final out on a fly ball, sending the game into extra innings. The moment mattered because the Comets still had not led. They had kept the deficit from growing, but they needed one more opportunity at the plate to turn a tie into a title.
Thomas delivers the first lead
In the 10th, an automatic runner began at second under the extra-inning tiebreaker rule, and two walks loaded the bases. Thomas lined a double into left-center field, clearing the bases and giving Oklahoma City a 5–2 lead. The hit was the Comets’ first lead of the night. Rochester scored once in the bottom half, but Halvorsen closed the game by striking out Leandro Pineda.
In a one-game final, that sequence put each Comets contribution into sharp focus. Sirota and Fitzgerald brought Oklahoma City level, Halvorsen kept Rochester from scoring in the ninth, and Thomas drove in all three extra-inning runs. The title came through several timely plays rather than one swing alone.
The final score was 5–3. Thomas finished 2-for-3, according to The Oklahoman’s report, and after the game he told MLB Network, “I’m very blessed to be with these guys.” The line fits a result that depended on more than the last swing: Sirota and Fitzgerald created the tie, Halvorsen supplied the key outs, and Thomas brought the runners home.
Oklahoma City had earned its place in the final two nights earlier by beating the Las Vegas Aviators, 5–2, in the decisive third game of the PCL series. After allowing 13 runs in the opener, the Comets gave up only four in the final two games, the team’s recap said. The title set up a one-game national final against Rochester, the International League champion; the Sept. 26 win gave Oklahoma City its first Triple-A National Championship.
The national title completed the Comets’ second appearance in the single-game final. Their first, in 2023, ended in a 7–6 loss to Norfolk. The team’s official recap says Oklahoma City won 21 of its final 25 games this season; The Oklahoman reported a 90–60 finish. Those numbers give useful context for a strong close, while the final itself still turned on a few innings in Las Vegas.
Triple-A is the highest level of Minor League Baseball, and its national championship is decided between the champions of its two leagues. Unlike a longer playoff series, this final offers one game to settle the title. The Comets had to respond to a two-run deficit, level the score, escape a ninth-inning threat with runners at the corners, and produce the decisive hit in extra innings.
The accompanying photograph is an illustrative stock image of baseball and does not depict the Comets, the Red Wings, or the championship game.
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