Hot Rods ready for playoff opener

Published 4:56 pm Sunday, September 6, 2026

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Bowling Green Hot Rods outfielder Jhon Diaz (14) runs to first during the Hot Rods’ home game Thursday against the Greenville Drive.
(JACK DOBBS / Daily News)

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The Bowling Green Hot Rods’ Tony Santa Maria (15) watches the ball on Thursday during the Hot Rods’ home game against the Greenville Drive.
(JACK DOBBS / Daily News)

The celebratory champagne was popped months ago, but the Bowling Green Hot Rods finally get to reap the rewards of that celebration — opening play in the South Atlantic League playoffs on Tuesday at Winston-Salem in Game 1 of a best-of-three series.

Bowling Green finished the season with 82 wins, earning the first half South Division title and claiming a share of the second half title to win both halves for only the second time in franchise history.

Only a slight stumble in August, when the Hot Rods went 8-17, prevented Bowling Green from finishing with the best overall record in the league.

After earning a split with Greenville following a 4-3 win in Sunday’s regular-season finale, Bowling Green is ready to turn the page and make a run at another title.

“Even though it was a tough August, I feel like the team stayed competitive,” BG manager Rafael Valenzuela said earlier this week. “The ball didn’t roll our way a few games, but I feel like the energy, the bats, everybody has been into it. It’s easy to just say (forget) it and fold in the month of August and try to turn it on again. It’s been tough, but I feel like the guys have been in it. Really looking forward to Tuesday night.”

BG infielder Tony Santa Maria said it was a bit of a grind heading down the stretch of the regular season.

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“Once you clinch, it is tough to play for something,” Santa Maria said. “We’ve been trying to clinch the second half as well. That is what we’ve done all year, gone out and won. This has been a little different kind of stretch, but I think once Tuesday rolls around it’s a different type of baseball. Everything changes, so I think that is going to be a reset for us.”

The Hot Rods got a small taste of the postseason the last two weeks — playing the final 12 games against the two teams battling to earn a shot at facing Bowling Green.

Bowling Green played at Winston-Salem, which finished tied with the Hot Rods in the second half, last week and played a Greenville team that was still in contention until Friday. Valenzuela said it was nice to play against teams playing meaningful games down the stretch.

“Not going to say we have an advantage, but I think all we have been focused on is playing some good baseball,” Valenzuela said. “We want to be heading into (the playoffs) playing our best baseball. Last week we played a team that was trying to get in. This week we played a team (that was trying) to get in, so the atmosphere has been great. I believe it is getting us ready for next week.”

The Dash will get to host Game 1 on Tuesday, but Bowling Green gets the final two games in the series if it goes that far. Game 2 is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. on Thursday, with a winner-take-all Game 3 slated for 6:35 p.m. on Friday if necessary.

Having home-field advantage makes that first game very important according to Valenzuela.

“Game 1 on the road is going to be very huge,” Valenzuela said. “I expect us to go out there and play hard. I expect our pitchers to get a little bit of an edge and go out there and battle their tails off. It should be a lot of fun.”

About Micheal Compton

I am a sports reporter and movie critic for the Bowling Green Daily News.

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