Kowalski delivers for Goldeyes

Two weeks ago, Ben Kowalski was unsure where or when his next professional opportunity would turn up.

On Tuesday, he was the backbone of the Winnipeg Goldeyes in a home-opening 3-1 victory over the Milwaukee Milkmen before 6,002 fans at Blue Cross Park.

The 25-year-old pitcher worked four strikeouts while conceding five hits and a lone run across six strong innings in his first start in the American Association.

“It was a little overwhelming at first,” Kowalski said of pitching in front of a Winnipeg crowd. “I mean, that’s definitely the most fans I’ve ever pitched in front of, the biggest stadium, nicest field, probably I’ve ever been to. It’s surreal. It’s surreal, man. It’s a dream come true. It really is.”

The Goldeyes have been decimated by injuries in the early going of the season, particularly to the pitching staff, which is down seven of its regular arms. Manager Logan Watkins found out Tuesday morning JJ Echevarria, who was supposed to start, was the latest victim of the injury bug.

“I said, ‘Hey, you’re in there today to start.’ Sure enough, six innings, and looked really good,” Watkins said. “So I guess you could definitely say he’s come out of nowhere, but I think it’s probably, you’re just looking at a guy that’s been itching for an opportunity, and he’s taking advantage of it.”

After graduating from Webster University in 2023, Kowalski spent last season pitching for the Trinidad Tigers of The Pecos League, where he put up strong numbers, but had no desire to stay long-term. In January, he moved to Los Angeles to train at the Zone 22 facility, in hopes a team would call.

When Watkins rang him up, he jumped on the next flight to Kansas City, where the Goldeyes were playing their second series of the season against the Monarchs.

Kowalski landed on May 12 and was pitching in the eighth inning the following day.

“Unlucky and lucky. We’ve had like nine guys go down with injuries so far this year, which is pretty unprecedented. Seven of them have been pitchers,” Wakins said.

“The timing of it’s pretty bad, because it’s really hard to find — good players typically have jobs at this time of the year. Just by the grace of God, he didn’t.”

Since joining the Fish, Kowalski has been used in three games in three different ways: short-relief, long-relief, and as a starter on Tuesday. Most importantly, he’s answered the bell each time.

“When I was in college, I was kind of like the fireman. I would come out of the pen when I needed to, I could start, I could be a the closer. And so I’ve just been able to kind of get my body used to doing whatever,” he said.

Kowalski’s stat line through three appearances: 11.2 innings pitched, 10 strikeouts, nine hits and one earned run.

“I’ve been starting the past two years, but just recently, when I came out here, honestly, I just felt like I needed to do whatever they needed to do to win. Just be a team guy.”

Winnipeg opened the scoring in the first as a high looping ball off the bat of Matthew Warkentin fell just inside fair territory, out of the reach of a diving Milkmen defender, to score Ramon Bramasco from second base.

In the eighth, with the game knotted 1-1, a line drive from Max Murphy scored Bramasco again and proved to be the difference.

Bramasco drew three walks, scored two runs and stole a base, while Murphy finished one-for-three with a walk and an RBI. Warkentin went two-for-four with one RBI.

The Goldeyes improved to 2-0 in home openers under Watkins.

“The story of the road trip was we lost five one-run games, and just coming up with that hit when we have our opportunities to score runs, and thankfully Murphy did that tonight,” Watkins said.

The Fish improved to 5-6 on the campaign. The Milkmen dropped to 4-5.

Winnipeg will be home for a six-game stretch before heading back on the road for five. The second of their three-game series against Milwaukee goes today at 6:30 p.m.

joshua.frey-sam@freepress.mb.ca