2023 Garden City Wind Season Recap - Garrett Totty's Final Season as Field Manager
The 2023 Garden City Wind season marked the end of an era at Clint Lightner Field. Garrett Totty returned for his third season as field manager after taking over the club in 2021, but 2023 would ultimately be his final season managing the Wind on the field. Garden City entered the summer coming off an extraordinary 36-10 regular season in 2022, and expectations were understandably high. The Wind had established themselves as a consistent contender in the Mountain Division, but the 2023 season would prove much more difficult and unpredictable than the dominant summer that preceded it.
Totty's tenure had begun under unusual circumstances in 2021 when only six of the players he recruited reported to Spring Training and the Pecos League had to help complete the roster. By 2022, Garden City had developed into one of the best teams in the league, winning 36 of 46 regular-season games before once again suffering a disappointing playoff loss to Roswell. The challenge in 2023 was to maintain that level of success with another changing roster and another demanding Pecos League schedule.
Garden City's season opened June 1 with a 9-2 loss, immediately demonstrating that 2023 wasn't going to begin like the dominant 2022 campaign. The Wind responded two days later with a 14-7 victory but then lost 3-1 in the second game of the day. Garden City answered with a 15-9 win and soon began putting together its first strong stretch of the season.
The Wind won 9-3 on June 7, followed with a 13-1 victory and then went on the road and won 18-6 and 9-8. Those four consecutive victories showed that Garden City still had the offensive ability to overwhelm opponents. The Wind weren't going to duplicate the near-perfect consistency of the previous season, but when the lineup was clicking they remained extremely dangerous.
The offense was led by several familiar names. Leo Gallegos developed into one of the most important players on the roster, appearing in 48 games and collecting 66 hits in 167 at-bats. He scored 60 runs, hit 13 home runs and drove in 58 while drawing an extraordinary 62 walks. Gallegos consistently created scoring opportunities and provided power in the middle of the Garden City lineup.
Najay King was another major run producer. King played 45 games and collected 63 hits in 179 at-bats, including 11 doubles and 13 home runs. He drove in a team-high 66 runs and scored 41 times. With Gallegos and King both hitting 13 home runs, Garden City had legitimate power in the heart of the batting order.
Dominic Enbody became one of the team's most consistent hitters. Enbody appeared in 38 games and collected 53 hits in 130 at-bats, hitting .408. He had 13 doubles, six home runs and 42 RBIs while striking out only 17 times. On a roster that could sometimes be dependent on power, Enbody provided consistent contact and gave the Wind another dependable offensive threat.
Devon Zielke returned as an important part of the Garden City lineup and produced another strong season. Zielke played 45 games, collected 62 hits in 176 at-bats, scored 58 runs and drove in 33. He also drew 37 walks and was hit by pitches 13 times, repeatedly finding ways to reach base. Zielke had been part of the outstanding 2022 club and remained one of the key pieces during Totty's final season.
Cole Lee became one of the most valuable two-way players on the team. At the plate, Lee collected 52 hits in 134 at-bats, hit 10 doubles and eight home runs and drove in 38 while scoring 42 times. He was just as valuable on the mound, where he became one of Garden City's most effective starting pitchers. Lee went 5-0 in eight starts, throwing 47 innings and striking out 55 hitters. His ability to contribute on both sides of the game gave Totty unusual flexibility throughout the season.
Zachary Elias provided another everyday presence, appearing in 50 games and collecting 56 hits. He hit 15 doubles and eight home runs, drove in 42 and stole 18 bases. Terry Daniels appeared in 35 games, scored 37 runs, drove in 29 and stole 18 bases. Jordan Harris was another important two-way contributor, collecting 26 hits in 74 at-bats while also becoming one of the team's primary starting pitchers.
Harris went 5-1 in 10 starts with a 4.86 ERA. He threw 61 innings and struck out 77 hitters, giving Garden City one of its most dependable starters. Combined with Lee's 5-0 record, the Wind had two pitchers who accounted for 10 victories and gave the club a chance to win whenever they took the mound.
Teddy Broxterman returned to the rotation and threw 58.2 innings over 11 starts, finishing 4-4 with 58 strikeouts. Matt Ambrosino carried an even larger workload, throwing 68 innings over nine starts and finishing 5-4. Tommy Castro made 10 starts and threw 52.2 innings. The rotation didn't produce the dominant overall numbers of the 2022 staff, but it supplied enough innings to keep Garden City competitive throughout the summer.
Kyle Adkins became one of the best weapons in the bullpen. Adkins appeared in 24 games and finished 4-1 with a 2.45 ERA over 25.2 innings. He allowed only seven earned runs while striking out 24. Gavin Peterson handled much of the closing work, appearing in 23 games and recording eight saves. Chris Cuppini also pitched effectively in limited action, posting a 2.34 ERA over six appearances.
The pitching staff, however, wasn't as deep or consistent as the one that had helped Garden City dominate the 2022 regular season. The Wind frequently found themselves in high-scoring games, and the bullpen could become stretched. Garden City still had enough offense to win many of those games, but the margin for error was smaller than it had been one year earlier.
That difference became evident during June. After Garden City's early four-game winning streak, the Wind lost three consecutive road games by scores of 12-6, 8-4 and 10-8. They responded with a 5-4 victory before losing 10-1 and 14-11. Garden City then won 7-4 and 12-7, only to lose another one-run game 9-8.
The Wind continued to alternate between impressive offensive performances and difficult losses. Garden City won a wild 20-17 road game and followed with a 5-4 victory before losing 13-4. They answered with an 11-9 win and later delivered one of their best pitching performances of the season with a 12-0 shutout. A 9-4 loss closed June and left the Wind still searching for the consistency that had defined the previous summer.
July opened with one of Garden City's biggest offensive performances of the season, a 26-7 road victory. The Wind lost 6-4 the next day but returned home and began another strong stretch. Garden City won 2-1 on July 4, 5-3 on July 5 and 15-8 on July 6 before exploding for a 22-2 road victory on July 7.
That stretch demonstrated the different ways Garden City could win. The Wind could grind out a 2-1 game and then score 22 runs three days later. With Lee and Harris providing quality starts and a lineup featuring Gallegos, King, Enbody, Zielke, Elias and Daniels, Garden City remained capable of beating anyone when all parts of the team came together.
The consistency didn't last. After the 22-2 victory, Garden City lost 14-8 before winning 11-8. The Wind then entered one of their most difficult stretches of the season, losing 27-12, 5-4 and 14-7 on consecutive days. A team that had rarely endured extended losing streaks during its 36-10 season in 2022 was finding 2023 considerably more difficult.
Garden City responded the way it had throughout Totty's tenure. The Wind won 7-5 and 4-3 before suffering a difficult 21-2 road loss. They then returned to Clint Lightner Field and produced one of their best stretches of the season, shutting out an opponent 8-0 and following with victories of 11-3, 9-8 and 18-9.
The four-game winning streak in the second half of July kept Garden City in contention and demonstrated that the team still had plenty of fight. The 8-0 shutout showed what the pitching staff could accomplish at its best, while the 18-9 victory again highlighted the power of the offense.
The final portion of the schedule remained unpredictable. Garden City lost consecutive road games 4-3 and 17-9 before winning back-to-back road games 12-8 and 12-11. The Wind lost 19-13, returned home and won 5-2, then lost 7-5 before finishing July with victories of 10-6 and 10-8.
Those two victories gave Garden City an opportunity to finish the regular season on a positive note, but August brought two difficult road losses. The Wind lost 12-1 on August 1 and 19-5 on August 2, closing the recorded schedule at 30-22.
The final record represented a substantial step back from the remarkable 36-10 season of 2022, but 30 victories still reflected a competitive team. Garden City had dealt with inconsistency throughout the summer yet remained capable of putting together winning streaks and producing some of the most explosive offensive performances in the league.
The 2023 Wind were a different kind of team than the club Totty had managed one year earlier. The 2022 team had been remarkably consistent, losing only 10 regular-season games. The 2023 team could look dominant one night and struggle badly the next. Victories of 26-7, 22-2, 18-6, 18-9 and 12-0 demonstrated the team's ceiling, while losses of 27-12, 21-2, 19-5 and 17-9 demonstrated the other side of the season.
There were still plenty of individual accomplishments. Gallegos became a major offensive force with 13 home runs, 58 RBIs, 60 runs and 62 walks. King matched him with 13 home runs and led the club with 66 RBIs. Enbody provided a .408 average and 42 RBIs. Zielke remained one of the team's most dependable players, and Elias combined extra-base power with 18 stolen bases.
On the mound, Lee's 5-0 season and Harris' 5-1 record gave Garden City two legitimate anchors in the rotation. Harris struck out 77 hitters in 61 innings, while Lee recorded 55 strikeouts in 47 innings. Adkins gave Totty a dependable bullpen arm with a 2.45 ERA, and Gavin Peterson's eight saves provided the Wind with a defined option at the end of games.
The larger story of the season, however, was the conclusion of Garrett Totty's time as field manager. Totty had taken over under extremely difficult circumstances in 2021. His first Garden City roster had barely existed when Spring Training began, with only six of the players he recruited reporting and Commissioner Andrew Dunn and David Peterson having to help find the rest of the team. Despite that beginning, Garden City developed into a competitive club.
One year later, Totty managed one of the greatest regular-season teams in Garden City Wind history. The 2022 Wind went 36-10 and appeared capable of winning the Pecos League Championship before another painful postseason loss to the Roswell Invaders ended the season. That 2022 club represented the high point of Totty's three years managing Garden City.
The 2023 season didn't reach those same heights, but it completed a three-year managerial run in which the Wind remained a significant team in the Mountain Division. Totty's teams could score, developed numerous productive players and continued the winning expectations that had become part of the Garden City franchise.
His final season was appropriately unpredictable. The Wind opened with a loss, put together several winning streaks, endured several difficult stretches and repeatedly responded when it appeared the season might begin slipping away. Garden City finished 30-22, a winning record but not the dominant performance of the previous summer.
By the conclusion of the 2023 season, Garrett Totty's time as Garden City Wind field manager had come to an end. He had inherited the job after David Peterson was assigned to Houston, survived the extraordinary roster problems of 2021, guided the Wind to a 36-10 record in 2022 and completed his run with another winning season in 2023.
The 2023 Garden City Wind therefore represented both an ending and a transition. The team still had many of the qualities that had made Garden City successful during Totty's tenure, but the franchise was preparing to move into another chapter with a new field manager.
Totty's final Garden City team wasn't his best team. That distinction belonged to the outstanding 2022 club. But the 2023 Wind continued to compete, continued to win more games than they lost and provided one final summer of Garrett Totty managing professional baseball at Clint Lightner Field.
