May 17: Alen Excited About New Season in Winnipeg

It didn’t hurt that Luis Alen was the hero on Saturday night. Regardless, even if he wasn’t able to deliver the winning hit in the bottom of the ninth on Saturday, he’d still be excited about the coming Northern League season.

“I just can’t wait for the season to begin,” said the 25 year-old Winnipeg Goldeyes catcher. “I’m in great shape, I’m seeing the ball well, I feel good behind the plate. I’m so excited for Opening Night. There will be a big crowd and I already know this is a great town to play in.

“I just appreciate everything everybody has done to bring me back to Winnipeg.”

It might only be pre-season, but a nice crowd (announced at 3,413) on another beautiful spring night at Canwest Park was brought to its feet in the bottom of the ninth when Alen hit a blast to straight away centrefield that went over the head of Nic Jackson and all the way to the wall. That scored Price Kendall and Corey Patton with the tying and winning runs as the Goldeyes edged the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks 3-2 in a thriller.

“He (Fargo pitcher Adam Tollefson) threw me a slider,” said Alen. “He threw me a slider on the first pitch and I missed it. I saw that he threw a slider to Patton and I thought that was his pitch. So I went up there looking for a slider.

While Alen’s triple was the big hit of the night, Winnipeg’s pitchers had another solid evening on the bump. In fact, five different pitchers allowed only two runs on six hits as left-handed reliever Zach Baldwin, who pitched a scoreless ninth, earned the victory. Canadian right-hander Matt Kniginyzky started the game and allowed only one run on one hit over four full innings.

With the win, the Goldeyes improved to 2-1-1 in this year’s pre-season as they head to Fargo for a pair of games on Sunday and Monday.

“I know it’s only pre-season, but the way I play, I’m always trying to win even the game doesn’t mean anything in the standings,” Alen said. “It’s always good to win, no matter what the situation is.

“I really like our team.”