2019 Garden City Wind Season Recap - David Peterson Returns and Leads the Wind to Their Best Regular Season Ever
The 2019 Garden City Wind season was one of the great turnaround stories in franchise history. Two years after David Peterson's difficult 2017 season ended with the organization wanting a managerial change, Peterson returned to Garden City and produced the best regular season the Wind had experienced to that point. The same manager who had been associated with one of the franchise's most frustrating seasons came back and led a completely different kind of team, one that won consistently, dominated long stretches of the summer and returned Garden City to the Pecos League playoffs.
The transformation was dramatic. Garden City finished the 2019 regular season 43-20, establishing a new high-water mark for the franchise. The Wind won with a deep offense, quality starting pitching and a bullpen that gave Peterson options throughout the season. Unlike the inconsistent club of 2017, the 2019 Wind were capable of sustaining winning streaks and controlling games for weeks at a time.
It was also a reminder of how quickly things could change in independent baseball. Peterson's first stint in Garden City had ended badly after the 2017 Wind finished 20-43 and became known for an extraordinary number of strikeouts. Marcus Sabata had demanded a change at the end of that season. Two years later, Peterson was back in the same dugout with a substantially better roster and another opportunity to manage one of the Pecos League's strongest markets.
This time, everything came together.
Garden City opened the season at Clint Lightner Field on May 30 with a 9-3 victory and followed with an 11-4 win the next night. The strong beginning immediately established a different tone. The Wind weren't trying to survive their schedule. They expected to win.
The early part of June demonstrated that Garden City could handle close games as well as high-scoring Pecos League shootouts. After a 14-6 loss, the Wind won 14-9, lost a 12-11 game and answered with a 10-9 victory. They then exploded for a 26-7 win before dropping a 16-14 decision. Garden City followed with victories of 11-9 and 13-8.
The offense could score with anyone in the league, but what separated the 2019 Wind from many previous Garden City teams was their ability to win lower-scoring games as well. Garden City won 6-2, 7-5, 5-2 and 3-1 during June. Later in the month the Wind posted an 11-0 shutout and followed with a 9-4 victory. The roster wasn't dependent on scoring 15 runs every night.
Cutter McDowell became one of the central figures in the lineup. McDowell appeared in 60 games and hit .337, collecting 86 hits in 255 at-bats. He scored 70 runs, hit 17 home runs and drove in 51. He also stole 21 bases, giving the Wind a combination of power and speed near the top of the offensive production chart.
Jordan Pontious was one of the team's most consistent hitters. Pontious hit .350 in 58 games with 78 hits, 13 doubles, two triples and seven home runs. He drove in 51 runs while striking out only 23 times in 223 at-bats. On a team loaded with power, Pontious provided the kind of consistent contact and dependable production that helped Garden City sustain rallies.
Shane Brown had an outstanding season, hitting .380 with 70 hits in 184 at-bats. Brown added 12 home runs and 52 RBIs while reaching base at an exceptional rate. He was one of several hitters who gave Peterson a lineup without many easy outs.
Brandon Kussmaul added another dimension. Kussmaul hit .340 in 61 games, scored 64 runs and drove in 45. He drew an incredible 54 walks and was hit by 11 pitches, producing a .498 on-base percentage. Kussmaul also stole 27 bases. He didn't need to hit a home run to change a game. He could reach base, steal a bag and force opposing pitchers and catchers to deal with him all night.
Carson Lee hit .319 and scored 56 runs while drawing 44 walks. Joel Garza hit .344 with 11 doubles, six home runs and 31 RBIs. Alvin Swoope appeared in 58 games, scored 61 runs and stole 31 bases, giving Garden City another major threat on the bases.
Then there was the power deeper in the lineup.
Hunter Villanueva hit 16 home runs in only 118 at-bats. He drove in 42 runs in 44 games and finished with a .322 batting average and a .771 slugging percentage. Nick Snyder was similarly dangerous, batting .351 with 12 home runs and 44 RBIs in only 33 games. When Peterson needed power, the Wind had it throughout the order.
The depth of the offense was one of Garden City's greatest strengths. Opponents couldn't simply work around one or two hitters. McDowell could hit a home run or steal a base. Pontious could put the baseball in play. Brown could drive the ball. Kussmaul could reach base almost half the time. Swoope could run. Villanueva and Snyder could change the score with one swing.
The pitching staff gave the offense something the Wind had not always enjoyed in previous seasons: enough quality innings to make that offense matter.
Layne Gusler became the workhorse of the staff. Gusler made 13 starts and threw 84.2 innings, finishing 9-1. He struck out 73 hitters and became the winningest pitcher on the team. In a league where pitchers frequently struggled to survive six innings, Gusler's ability to consistently take the ball and give Garden City a chance to win was extremely valuable.
Rich Edwards produced an exceptional season. Edwards went 7-1 with a 3.58 ERA in 11 starts, throwing 65.1 innings while allowing only 26 earned runs. Even more remarkable was his control. Edwards walked only two hitters all season. That ability to force opponents to earn their way on base made him one of the most dependable pitchers on the staff.
Jackson Owens gave the Wind another quality starter, finishing 2-2 with a 2.53 ERA over 42.2 innings. He struck out 37 and allowed only 12 earned runs. Edwin Lopez went 5-1 with a 4.67 ERA, while Zack Kammerman finished 4-0 over 56.1 innings.
The bullpen also had important pieces. Austin Willis-Greene recorded eight saves and finished with a 4.94 ERA over 23.2 innings. Pierce Smith went 3-0 with a 3.17 ERA, allowing only six earned runs in 17 innings while striking out 22. Travis Edgar went 3-0, and Kyle Koppenhoefer and Jonathan Fleckenstein gave Peterson additional relief options throughout the summer.
That combination of starting pitching, bullpen depth and offensive firepower allowed Garden City to separate itself as the season progressed.
June ended with the Wind playing winning baseball, but July was when the 2019 team became something special.
Garden City opened July with a 6-5 victory. After a 6-2 loss, the Wind responded with a 14-4 win on July 3. That victory started one of the most impressive stretches in franchise history.
Garden City won 4-3 on July 4, 15-1 on July 5, 8-4 on July 6 and 15-7 on July 7. The Wind then went on the road and won 4-2 on July 8. After a 7-5 loss interrupted the streak, Garden City immediately started another one.
The Wind won 9-0 on July 10, then returned to Clint Lightner Field and overwhelmed opponents. Garden City won 17-1, 4-2, 13-1 and 13-5 in four consecutive home games. They then went on the road and won 4-3.
By the middle of July, the Wind were operating at an entirely different level from the team that had struggled through previous seasons. They weren't simply winning games. They were repeatedly controlling them from beginning to end.
A 9-8 loss briefly stopped the run, but Garden City immediately answered with another offensive explosion. The Wind won 21-5, 16-10, 23-8 and 16-6 on four consecutive days. In that four-game stretch alone, Garden City scored 76 runs.
The offense kept rolling. After an off day, Garden City won both games of a July 23 doubleheader, 12-7 and 10-8. The Wind then split a July 24 doubleheader, losing 10-1 before winning 9-2.
The numbers from July told the story of a team that had found complete confidence. Garden City could beat an opponent 4-2 and then score 23 runs a few days later. Peterson's club was winning at home and on the road. The Wind were getting production throughout the batting order and enough pitching to prevent the offensive explosions of opponents from consistently costing them games.
Garden City closed the regular season strongly. After consecutive losses of 9-4 and 4-0, the Wind responded with victories of 8-2 and 9-3. They then won 9-1 at Clint Lightner Field before moving into the final games of the schedule.
When the regular season was complete, Garden City stood 43-20.
It was the best regular season in Wind history to that point.
The turnaround from Peterson's previous season managing the team was almost impossible to miss. The 2017 Wind had finished 20-43. The 2019 Wind reversed those numbers almost exactly, winning 43 games while losing only 20. Two years after Peterson's first run in Garden City had ended in frustration, his return had produced the most successful regular-season team the franchise had ever fielded.
The transformation extended beyond the record. The 2019 roster had balance. Garden City had hitters who could reach base, hitters who could run and hitters who could hit the ball out of the park. The pitching rotation featured Gusler, Edwards, Owens, Lopez and Kammerman. The bullpen had defined roles, including Willis-Greene at the back end.
Most importantly, the Wind had confidence.
Garden City entered the playoffs believing it had a legitimate chance to win the Pecos League Championship.
The Roswell Invaders ended that dream.
The playoff series began at Clint Lightner Field on August 5. Garden City had enjoyed one of the greatest regular seasons in franchise history, but Roswell immediately demonstrated why postseason baseball could be so different. The Invaders defeated the Wind 12-8 in Game 1, putting Garden City one loss away from elimination.
The Wind now had to win to keep the season alive.
On August 6, Roswell defeated Garden City 6-2. Just like that, the greatest regular season in Wind history was over.
There would be no championship series and no opportunity to complete the turnaround with a league title. Roswell advanced while Garden City was left to consider how quickly a 43-win season could end in the Pecos League playoffs.
The playoff loss was disappointing precisely because expectations had become so high. Garden City hadn't entered the postseason simply happy to qualify. The Wind had spent much of July looking like a championship team. They had gone through stretches in which they overwhelmed opponents offensively and controlled games with their pitching staff.
But two games against Roswell erased the championship opportunity.
That shouldn't overshadow what the 2019 Wind accomplished.
The season represented a complete turnaround for the franchise. Garden City had gone from 20 wins during Peterson's 2017 season to 43 wins in his return. The lineup included McDowell, Pontious, Brown, Kussmaul, Lee, Garza, Swoope, Villanueva and Snyder. The pitching staff featured a nine-game winner in Gusler, a 7-1 season from Edwards and quality performances from Owens, Lopez and Kammerman.
The individual numbers were impressive, but the larger accomplishment was the consistency of the team. Garden City didn't reach 43 victories because of one great week. The Wind won in May, won throughout June and then became dominant during July.
The 2019 season also represented another stage in the evolution of Garden City as a Pecos League market. Only four years earlier, the Wind had been a last-minute expansion team trying to determine whether professional baseball could survive in western Kansas. The inaugural 2015 season had been filled with uncertainty and managerial chaos. By 2019, Garden City was no longer an experiment.
Clint Lightner Field had become a true Pecos League home. The fan base expected competitive baseball. The organization expected to make the playoffs. The standard had changed dramatically from the days when simply finishing an independent professional season in Garden City represented an accomplishment.
The return of Peterson became one of the most unusual chapters in that history. His first Garden City tenure hadn't ended the way anyone wanted. Yet he came back two years later and produced the exact opposite result.
Independent baseball rarely follows a straight line.
The 2019 Garden City Wind were proof of that.
Peterson returned. The Wind turned around. The offense became one of the deepest in the league. The pitching staff gave the team stability. Garden City won 43 regular-season games and produced the best season in franchise history to that point.
The ending in the playoffs against Roswell was abrupt and painful, but it didn't erase what had happened during the previous two months.
The 2019 Garden City Wind had gone from a franchise trying to rediscover its direction to one of the best teams in the Pecos League.
They didn't win the championship.
They did prove that Garden City could build a championship-caliber team.
And for David Peterson, the 2019 season represented redemption. Two years after his first stint had ended in disappointment, he returned to Clint Lightner Field and led the Wind to the best regular season they had ever played.
