Going out on top

The New Hampshire Fisher Cats clinched the double-A Eastern League championship, partied into the night in celebration, and then went their separate ways.

Most of the players travelled home right from Richmond, where Saturday’s 4-3 win over the Flying Squirrels secured a 3-1 series victory, while a small handful joined manager Sal Fasano for the 11-hour bus ride back to New Hampshire.

A season of success is now at an end.

"When you look back, it’s hard to believe it’s over," Fasano said in an interview Sunday morning. "There are times when the season felt like it would never end, and there were times that it flew by.

"We had a lot of kids make progress, we sent some kids to the big-leagues, we had the MVP of the league and the playoff MVP – it was an enjoyable ride."

The Fisher Cats are the second Toronto Blue Jays affiliate to win a minor-league title, joining the short-season, single-A Vancouver Canadians, who earlier claimed the Northwest League championship.

The low-A Lansing Lugnuts, meanwhile, fell 6-3 Saturday night to be swept in the Midwest League final.

New Hampshire centre-fielder Anthony Gose scored the winning run Saturday, coming around in the top of the ninth after Richmond right-fielder Francisco Peguero couldn’t corral Moises Sierra’s single.

Deck McGuire, the Blue Jays’ first-round pick in 2010, returned from a strained oblique to allow two runs over three innings while playoff MVP Kevin Howard hit a two-run homer.

Eastern League MVP Travis d’Arnaud went 1-for-5 with a double, and was his stellar self behind the plate, earning praise from Fasano for both his poise and leadership.

"Travis was so huge for us, he didn’t have the greatest playoffs at the plate, but he called two shutouts in the playoffs, which is impressive," said Fasano. "He has the demeanour of a winner and his determination to win rubs off on others.

"Anthony is like that too. They won a championship in (in 2009 with Philadelphia’s low-A) Lakewood and again now in double-A. We don’t only want to develop good players, but championship players, and that’s what those guys are."

The Fisher Cats advanced to the playoffs after winning the Eastern Division crown with an 83-59 season. D’Arnaud and Gose were front and centre all year as were several other Blue Jays prospects, including first baseman Mike McDade, outfielder Moises Sierra and shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria (who finished the season at triple-A Las Vegas).

They survived the promotions of pitchers Henderson Alvarez, Joel Carreno, Chad Beck (to Las Vegas) and Zach Stewart to the big-leagues, thanks to some late-season contributions by McGuire, Chad Jenkins, Drew Hutchison and Nestor Molina.

Telling Alvarez, Carreno and Stewart they were going to the Blue Jays was especially rewarding for Fasano.

"Zach was the first one and it’s like your first girlfriend, you never forget them," he said. "Henderson and Joel have overcome a lot in their lives to play professional baseball and are now having success in the big-leagues. Seeing the home-grown guys succeed is what it’s all about."

Fasano feels there are more such moments to come for his group, starting with d’Arnaud, whom he described as "a candidate to play in the big-leagues."

The playoff run, the sophomore manager feels, will only help.

"We talk a lot about how important every pitch is, the focus on executing each pitch and never taking a play off, and in the playoffs that’s magnified," said Fasano, who is headed to the Blue Jays’ instructional league camps before returning home to Chicago. "To execute that I think is huge."

Shi Davidi is the MLB Insider for sportsnet.ca. Come back to read his insight and opinion regularly.