Naturals wrap up Texas North first-half crown

Three days ago, manager Vance Wilson and his Double-A Northwest Arkansas team prepared for a five-game series against Tulsa. The directive was simple: win them all and they would be division champions.
On Saturday, they finished the job.
The Naturals topped Tulsa, 4-1, on Saturday night at ONEOK Field to secure the Texas League North Division first-half tile. 

"It's just awesome, especially when you take a bunch of guys that basically knew what they were playing for against Tulsa," Wilson said. "Tulsa is a good team and we were able to get a five-game sweep. I'm just really proud of the way we went about it, the way they handled the pressure and really stuck together."
Gameday box score
Left-hander Emilio Ogando (4-4) led the way with a strong outing on the mound, allowing one run on six hits and a walk while striking out four over seven innings. The Naturals broke through for the game's first two runs in the sixth on an RBI triple by Humberto Arteaga and a sacrifice fly by Royals No. 11 prospect Donnie Dewees Jr. Samir Dueñez provided insurance an inning later with a two-run homer to left.

The club endured some growing pains over the first two months of the season, going 11-10 in April and 15-15 in May. The Naturals have reeled off 13 wins in 20 games in June, including the last five, despite owning a minus-31 run differential. Wilson said his team's defense helped make up for some of the pitching staff's early struggles that produced a 4.43 ERA.
"Our defense kept us in games," he said. "They were always positioned right on point and they made all the routine plays. When you look at what our fielding percentage is while our pitching had to go through some growing pains with the young guys, I think that's the biggest thing."

The skipper marveled at how far his team has come in the span of half a season.
"I think the biggest thing is the growth of our players and, really, that's what our job [as coaches] is -- making sure guys get better on a daily basis," Wilson said. "I think it speaks to Steve Luebber, our pitching coach, and Leon Roberts, our hitting coach. The approach [early on] was just kind of, 'Don't panic, stick to the process, we're not going to be results-oriented. Good things are going to happen.'"
Other clinchings:
Kane County 14, Wisconsin 2
The Cougars routed the Timber Rattlers behind homers from Marcus Wilson, Mark Karaviotis and Ramon Hernandez. Kane County rolled to the Midwest League Western Division first-half title on the back of the circuit's second-ranked pitching staff, which has a 3.10 ERA. D-backs No. 8 prospectJon Duplantier was the standout with a 1.24 ERA in 13 appearances.
Lancaster 12, Rancho Cucamonga 2
The JetHawks defeated with a strong offensive performance as eight of nine starters finished with at least one hit. Rockies top prospectBrendan Rodgers went 2-for-4 with a homer and a double. Lancaster locked up the California League South Division first-half crown behind an offense that produced a league-best 445 runs and a .308 average. JetHawks Rodgers (.400), Yonathan Daza (.343) and Roberto Ramos (.339) ranks as the top three hitters on the circuit.
Modesto 11, Inland Empire 1
Eric Filia went 3-for-5 with a homer, double and five RBIs to lead the Nuts to victory. Chris Mariscal added three hits and drove in a pair of runs. Modesto clinched the California League North Division first-half crown with an offense that ranked second in the league with 368 runs scored. The pitching did enough to make the offense stand up, posting a 4.40 ERA that ranked fifth on the eight-team circuit while walking the second-fewest batters (188) in the league.