Rochester: 4 Columbus: 3

The Wings ended this magical 1997 season with an equally magical effort in game five as the Wings beat Columbus in a 4-3 thriller in front of 6,120 ruckus fans. The Wings jumped on Columbus starter Mike Jerzenbeck early with three first inning runs. Danny Clyburn and Tim Laker came through during the first and seven came up to the plate in the inning. The Wings added one run in the third which turned out to be quite crucial to give them the 4-0 lead.

Rookie Julio Moreno made his second start for the Wings and pitched five solid innings allowing two runs to improve to 2-0 in the playoffs. Chris Bennett then replaced him and went 2 2/3 innings allowing one run. Then with the score 4-3 Shouse came in and just like last night he struck out the last batter in the eighth getting a standing ovation from the fans.

Then in the ninth Shouse continued his magic with a strikeout to start the inning. Then Homer Bush came up and bunted a ball that looked unplayable down the left field line, but P.J. Forbes exemplified the heart and fielding brilliance he has charging down the line making a brillant diving play to take Columbus down to their final out. Then with two strikes the ball was hit to right center and the crowd which was already roaring erupted even further as that was the game and the Wings were crowned the '97 Governor's Cup Champions.

IL Commish Randy Mobley after some celebration presented the Wings the Governors Cup Trophey which was paraded around the field. Marv Foley has now won championship's in all three AAA Leagues, as he is the first and will probably be the only manager to ever win one in all three league's as next year the American Association will not be in existance.

The Wings finish the postseason with a 4-1 home record and a 2-2 road record. Danny Clyburn was among many Wings playing just superb in the postseason and one can't look past Murano's superb efforts considering he is a rookie and his only two starts were in the postseason and were victories. The Wings also continued their box office success as they easily lead the IL in playoff average and total attendance (actually in the Wings five playoff games, they own spots one through five in postseason attendance and have had 540,000 paid fans for the season)!

This has certainly been a magical season earning the IL East crown and overall best record during the regular season and they let nobody down in the postseason. The Wings also own the lead on Governor's Cup crowns by any team. I want to thank everyone for their support with this webpage. I'll in the coming days make sure everything is up-to-date (and keep everyone on top of any celebrations if the Wings decide to hold some) and then I'll get to work on a season review (which should be fun with this season). If anyone has any other ideas for things I should do during the off-season e-mail me (I'll also attempt a Silver Stadium Tribute eventually)! Back to the game, it was simply a magical night once again at Frontier!