The Erie SeaWolves, the Detroit Tigers Double-A affiliate, is heading to the Eastern League championship game.

While the Detroit Tigers are winding down their season on a sour note, both the Toledo Mud Hens and the Erie SeaWolves are hitting their notes with clarity and strength. The Mud Hens, who are the Tigers’ Triple-A team, are winners of 12 out of their last 13. On Thursday night, the Erie SeaWolves  advanced to the Eastern League Championship Game for the first time in team history. They beat the Richmond Flying Squirrels 6-2 and will play the Somerset Patriots in a best-of-three starting on Saturday.

Against the Yankees affiliates this season, Erie has gone 2-4 with all the games on the road. Saturday’s game marks the first time this season the SeaWolves will be playing the Patriots at home.

Wilmer Flores, who is the 3rd ranked prospect in the Detroit Tigers system according to MLB Pipeline, will get the start in game one. Flores was lights out in his last start of the regular season, a game that Erie needed to win to stay in the playoff picture. He was also named Baseball America’s Tigers Minor League Player of the Year earlier this week. The 21-year-old Flores has the potential to make a bid in the Tigers rotation in 2023.

Right-hander Reese Olson is among several Rule 5 eligible players the Tigers will have to decide on this off-season. In the playoff opener against Richmond, Olson allowed one run over four hits and struck out nine. He broke the club record for most strikeouts in one season with 154 and helped with another team record.

Some light at the end of the tunnel

If there is anything else to grab some hope, each team in the farm system finished over .500 this season. That marks the first time this has happened since High-A was established as a classfication in 1990.