Dodgers Prospect Notes: Oklahoma City wins PCL & AAA Championships, Tibbs homers twice, Ehrhard shines, Thomas wins MVP, more

Jared Massey 09/28/2026 Prospect Notes Leave A Comment

(Via @OKC_comets)

A huge congratulations to Scott Henessey and the players and staff out in Oklahoma City for winning the Pacific Coast League and Triple-A Championships! The team went on an incredible run at the end of the season and, despite being down in the PCL series and late in the Triple-A title game, never gave up and pulled through to achieve a historic win.

More in-depth breakdowns of the games below.

Hitter of the Week

The Comets outfield corps included Josue De Paula, Mike Sirota and James Tibbs III for their playoff run, three of the organization’s top 10 prospects. However, it was Zach Ehrhard who stepped up and led the offense.

The scrappy outfielder was coming off a 20 homer/20 steal season and showed both power and speed in OKC’s four postseason games. He slashed .529/.619/.882 with three doubles, a homer and a steal. He also left it all out on the field on defense, crashing into the right field wall attempting to make a catch late in the Triple-A Championship game.

While not the most heralded prospect, Ehrhard still has a good chance of sticking on a major league roster. His defensive versatility and all-out playstyle are things front offices and managers love, and Zach could be the heir apparent to Alex Call.

Pitcher of the Week

After the pitching staff allowed 13 runs in Game 1 of the PCL Championship series, the Comets needed length and efficiency out of their starting pitcher in Game 2. They turned to Landon Knack in a do-or-die scenario and got just what they needed.

Coming off four scoreless innings for the big club, the 29-year-old righty delivered for Oklahoma City last Wednesday, going 6 ⅓ innings while allowing just a single run and striking out eight. It was his longest outing and most strikeouts recorded of the year.

Knack has bounced back and forth between the big club and Triple-A for the past three years and has done an admirable job giving the Dodgers innings when they need him. This last start will go down as one of his most meaningful and best.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

PCL Championship Game 1

The opening salvo in the Comets playoff run was a test of the team’s resilience and focus. Ace Jackson Ferris took the hill and struggled, allowing six runs (five earned) in three innings. After a Tibbs III home run in the 4th, OKC would pull within a run in the 5th, culminating with a bases loaded single from Ryan Fitzgerald. 

However, Vegas responded with six runs of their own in the 6th and another in the 7th. One final comeback attempt fell short, with five more runs from the Comets in the 8th and a Zach Ehrhard solo homer in the 9th. They would drop Game 1 by a score of 13-11.

PCL Championship Game 2

The first elimination game for the Comets was a much different story. OKC took an early lead thanks to a two-run double from Zach Ehrhard in the 3rd. Hyeseong Kim followed with an RBI double of his own the next inning. 

Then the big blow came in the 5th, as Tibbs III doubled the lead to 6-0 with his second home run in as many games. Knack’s fantastic start was followed by a solid showing from the bullpen and the Comets took Game 2 by a score of 7-2.

PCL Championship Game 3

Both teams combined to use 15 pitchers in the decisive Game 3, with Cole Irvin serving as OKC’s opener. The Comets again jumped out to an early lead, thanks to a double from Fitzgerald that scored Alek Thomas in the 2nd inning. Sirota singled in a run and Thomas followed with a sac fly to extend the lead to 3-0 in the 3rd. 

Ehrhard and De Paula collected back-to-back doubles in the 8th to plate another pair of runs, which offset the two-run homer Seth Halvorsen allowed in the bottom half of the inning. Hennessey went to righty Paul Gervase to close it out and he worked a 1-2-3 9th to give the Comets their first Pacific Coast League Championship in three years along with a spot in the Triple-A National Championship.

Triple-A National Championship

While International League champions Rochester went with another bullpen game, the Comets handed the ball to Emmet Sheehan who was coming off one of his best outings of the year with the Dodgers.

OKC, serving as the away team in Vegas, led off with a Ehrhard single and a De Paula walk. However, the middle of the order couldn’t capitalize on the early run scoring opportunity, as Tibbs III flied out to right, Sirota popped out and Thomas was called out on strikes to end the inning.

Sheehan quickly dispatched the first two batters he faced in the bottom half of the first, with the first out coming on an outstanding diving play in center field from Thomas. But then Emmet allowed the dreaded two out walk, followed by back to back singles which would bring that walk in to score and give the Red Wings an early 1-0 lead.

Then in the second, after striking out the leadoff batter, Sheehan left a fastball over the plate to Red Wings’ first baseman Liover Peguero who hit an absolute moonshot to double the Red Wings lead to 2-0. That was the final run Emmet would allow, as he lasted 5 ⅓ innings and ended up with seven strikeouts.

And that lead stuck for several innings as the Comets offense couldn’t string hits together and wasted opportunity after opportunity with runners on base. With two on and one out in the 7th, Ehrhard grounded into a force out and De Paula flied out to left. It seemed like the offense was lost.

Then came the 8th. Tibbs III led the inning off with a walk, giving the Comets a baserunner in the 6th straight inning. A wild pitch sent Tibbs III to second with Sirota at the plate. Then, the impossible happened. Sirota smacked a grounder through the right side and Oklahoma City finally scored a run. 

Down 2-1 in the 8th with no outs and a runner on first, Hennessey had his #5 hitter lay down a sacrifice bunt. Thomas did the job to bring up Fitzgerald with a runner in scoring position. It was a risky gamble but it paid off as Fitzgerald smoked a double to the left-center gap, scoring Sirota and tying the game.

In the top of the 9th, Ehrhard picked up his third hit of the game with a one-out single, but De Paula followed by grounding into a double play to end the half inning. In the bottom of the 9th, Rochester got an infield single and a walk to put the potential winning run on second base with one out. 

Halvorsen was brought in to quell the threat. Red Wings’ leadoff man and Top 10 Nationals’ prospect Seaver King grounded a ball to Noah Miller at short, who went to second for an out but Kim couldn’t complete the double play. With the winning run 90 feet away, Rochester’s left fielder Trey Lipscomb swung at the first pitch and flew out to center to end the 9th and take the game to extra innings.

JDP started the top of the 10th at second with the heart of the order coming up determined to drive him in. Tibbs III, who drew 108 walks during the regular season, took the free pass to put runners on first and second. Sirota, also known to take a walk, worked a seven-pitch base on balls to load the bases.

Up came Alek Thomas, who’d been asked to sacrifice bunt two innings prior. It had been a long, trying season for the 26-year-old, who’d been designated for assignment twice and struggled in the majors. But this was his moment to shine. On the first pitch he saw, Thomas smashed a line drive into the left-centerfield gap for a bases-clearing double to give the Comets a 5-2 lead.

Oklahoma City took that lead to the bottom of the 10th and entrusted Halvorsen to protect it. Rochester third baseman Cayden Wallace worked a nine-pitch at bat which ended with a grounder toward the hole at first. Tibbs III threw wide to Halvorsen covering the bag, but Seth did a great job of snagging the bounced throw and seemingly recorded the out. Wallace was called safe.

Suddenly, the Red Wings had runners on the corners and the tying run at the plate, thanks in part to a blown call. Would this rattle the Comets’ reliever? Thankfully not, as Halvorsen, facing the Red Wings cleanup batter, painted a 100.8 mph fastball on the outer edge that induced a double play. The run scored but now there were two outs and OKC still had a two-run lead. 

That brought up right fielder Leandro Pineda who had three hits on the night. After Halvorsen got ahead 1-2, he threw a slider that caught the bottom of the zone for a called strike three. Pineda challenged, but to no avail, and the Comets stormed the field to celebrate their first Triple-A National Championship in the franchise’s history.

Enjoy Alek doing … stuff.

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Thank you to everyone for reading these recaps this season.

Look forward to more prospect coverage, including Arizona Fall League recaps which will start next week, following top prospects such as Charles Davalan, Eduardo Quintero and Chase Harlan.

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About Jared Massey

Former co-host along with Dustin Nosler of the Award-eligible Dugout Blues podcast. Founder of the Greg Miller Marching and Chowder Society. Certified Prospect Hugger.
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