2018 Bakersfield Train Robbers Season Recap - Bryan Kloppe Leads Bakersfield to Its Only Pecos League Championship
The 2018 Bakersfield Train Robbers season remains the greatest season in the history of the franchise.
In only their second season playing at Sam Lynn Ballpark, manager Bryan Kloppe and the Train Robbers survived one of the most difficult playoff paths imaginable and ultimately traveled to Alpine, Texas, where they captured the Pecos League Championship.
It remains the only Pecos League Championship won by the Bakersfield Train Robbers and the only championship won by a Bakersfield minor league baseball team.
The championship run featured dramatic comebacks against a loaded California City Whiptails team, a sweep of Bill Moore's Tucson Saguaros, clutch playoff performances from Brett Balkin and Kyle Bonicki, three postseason victories from Jonathon Fleckenstein and another strong season from Bakersfield native Nick Vehlewald.
Rob Lain served as the ace of the pitching staff, while Kloppe guided a team that repeatedly found its best baseball when its season was on the line.
Bryan Kloppe Takes Over a Team Ready to Win
The Train Robbers had arrived in Bakersfield only one year earlier, moving into historic Sam Lynn Ballpark for the 2017 season.
By 2018, Bakersfield was no longer simply trying to establish professional baseball in the city.
The Train Robbers were trying to win a championship.
Bryan Kloppe took over as manager and assembled a club that featured a mixture of returning players and new talent.
The roster was not necessarily viewed as the overwhelming favorite when the postseason began, but it had experienced pitching, dangerous hitters and players who proved capable of performing under pressure.
Those qualities would become increasingly important as the playoffs progressed.
Nick Vehlewald Provides the Regular-Season Power
One of the most important players during the regular season was Nick Vehlewald.
Vehlewald had a special connection to the Train Robbers because he was a Bakersfield native and one of the few players remaining from the club's inaugural Bakersfield season in 2017.
He became one of the team's primary power threats in 2018.
Vehlewald played 53 games and hit eight home runs while driving in 37 runs.
For a franchise still establishing its identity in Bakersfield, having a local player producing in the middle of the lineup gave fans another connection to the team.
Vehlewald had been there when the Train Robbers first moved into Sam Lynn Ballpark.
One year later, he would be part of the team that delivered Bakersfield a championship.
Rob Lain Serves as the Ace
On the mound, Rob Lain served as the ace of the Bakersfield pitching staff.
Lain gave Kloppe an established pitcher to build around and provided the Train Robbers with stability throughout the regular season.
In independent baseball, where pitching staffs can change quickly and quality innings are always valuable, having an ace capable of taking the baseball in important situations was a major advantage.
But when the postseason began, another Bakersfield pitcher would become almost unbeatable whenever the Train Robbers needed him most.
Jonathon Fleckenstein Becomes the Playoff Weapon
Jonathon Fleckenstein delivered one of the greatest playoff pitching performances in Train Robbers history.
Every time Bakersfield found itself in a critical situation, Fleckenstein seemed to provide exactly what the club needed.
He earned three victories during the postseason.
Three playoff wins from one pitcher in a championship run was an enormous contribution and helped carry Bakersfield through three difficult rounds.
Fleckenstein's 2018 performance became even more significant when viewed in the context of his entire career.
He continued pitching in the Pecos League for years and ultimately finished his career as the all-time Pecos League strikeout leader.
Before reaching that career milestone, however, Bakersfield fans had already seen what made him special.
During the 2018 playoffs, when the Train Robbers absolutely needed an out or needed someone to take control of a game, Fleckenstein answered.
California City Waits in the First Round
The Train Robbers' championship path began against David Peterson and the California City Whiptails.
California City was not viewed as an ordinary first-round opponent.
Many people around the Pecos League believed the Whiptails were the best team in the entire league.
They had talent throughout the roster and appeared capable of making a long championship run.
During the opening playoff series, those predictions appeared justified.
California City built large leads against Bakersfield in both games.
The Train Robbers appeared to be in serious trouble.
Twice.
And twice they came back.
Bakersfield Refuses to Go Away
The California City series became the moment when the personality of the 2018 Train Robbers was established.
They simply would not quit.
Despite falling far behind in Game 1, Bakersfield continued attacking and worked its way back into the game.
The same thing happened again in Game 2.
California City had the lead.
California City appeared to have the stronger team.
California City appeared ready to advance.
But Bakersfield kept coming.
The Train Robbers erased major deficits in both games and eliminated Peterson's Whiptails.
A California City team many considered the best club in the Pecos League was suddenly finished.
Bakersfield was still alive.
That series gave the Train Robbers something more valuable than simply advancing to the next round.
It gave them confidence that no deficit was too large and no opponent was too strong.
Brett Balkin and Kyle Bonicki Take Over in the Postseason
As the playoffs progressed, Brett Balkin and Kyle Bonicki emerged as two of Bakersfield's most important offensive players.
They delivered repeatedly in clutch situations and became central figures in the championship run.
Bonicki was especially productive during the postseason, collecting 14 hits in 31 at-bats over seven playoff games.
He scored nine runs, hit two home runs and drove in 11.
His postseason batting average was .452.
Those numbers reflected the kind of impact Bonicki made when the games mattered most.
Balkin likewise provided critical offense throughout Bakersfield's playoff run, and together the two hitters helped transform the Train Robbers lineup during the postseason.
The regular season had featured Vehlewald as one of the club's primary power hitters.
The playoffs belonged increasingly to Balkin and Bonicki.
Bill Moore and Tucson Are Next
After surviving California City, Bakersfield advanced to face Bill Moore and the Tucson Saguaros.
Moore was already one of the most established managers in Pecos League history, and Tucson had built a reputation as one of the league's premier organizations.
On paper, Bakersfield had another difficult series ahead.
This time there would be no dramatic comeback from a huge deficit.
The Train Robbers took control.
Bakersfield swept Tucson and captured the Pacific Division Championship.
The victory sent the Train Robbers to the Pecos League Championship Series.
Their destination was Alpine, Texas.
The Road to Alpine
The championship series required one of the longest trips possible for the Train Robbers.
Bakersfield had to travel roughly 1,100 miles from California to Alpine, Texas.
Waiting at historic Kokernot Field were the Alpine Cowboys.
Alpine represented a completely different challenge from California City and Tucson.
The Cowboys were at home.
They were accustomed to Kokernot Field.
They had their fans behind them.
And Bakersfield had just completed a postseason filled with emotionally demanding games before making the long trip into West Texas.
But Kloppe's club had reached a point where none of that seemed to matter.
The Train Robbers had already eliminated a team many thought was the best in the league.
They had already swept Tucson.
They were now playing for the first championship in franchise history.
The Train Robbers Finish the Job
Bakersfield defeated Alpine and became the 2018 Pecos League Champions.
The victory completed a postseason run that few could have predicted when the playoffs began.
The Train Robbers had survived California City after falling behind badly in both games.
They had swept Tucson.
They had traveled across multiple states to Alpine.
And they had won the championship away from Sam Lynn Ballpark.
Bryan Kloppe and his players had brought a Pecos League Championship back to Bakersfield.
The Only Championship in Train Robbers History
The significance of the 2018 title has only increased with time.
Bakersfield has fielded many strong Train Robbers teams since then.
The club has returned to the postseason repeatedly.
It has won division titles.
It has reached another Pecos League Championship Series.
But through the years that followed, no other Train Robbers team has finished the season holding the championship trophy.
The 2018 team stands alone.
It remains the only championship in Bakersfield Train Robbers history.
More significantly, it remains the only championship won by a Bakersfield minor league baseball team.
For a city with generations of professional baseball history, that distinction makes the 2018 Train Robbers one of the most important teams ever to play at Sam Lynn Ballpark.
Different Heroes at Different Times
What made the championship club special was that different players carried the Train Robbers at different points of the season.
Nick Vehlewald supplied important power during the regular season and represented Bakersfield as a hometown player returning from the 2017 club.
Rob Lain gave the Train Robbers an ace at the top of their pitching staff.
Brett Balkin and Kyle Bonicki emerged as postseason offensive stars.
Jonathon Fleckenstein became almost automatic in the biggest pitching situations and earned three playoff victories.
Kloppe managed all of those pieces while keeping the Train Robbers alive through a playoff bracket that offered almost no easy games.
There was no single formula that won the championship.
Against California City, Bakersfield needed comebacks.
Against Tucson, it needed complete control of the series.
Against Alpine, it needed to survive the travel and win a championship on the road.
The Train Robbers found a different way to win each time.
The California City Series Changed Everything
Years later, the first-round victory over California City remains one of the most important moments of the championship run.
The Whiptails had every reason to believe the series belonged to them.
They had one of the most highly regarded rosters in the league.
They were led by David Peterson.
They built large leads in both playoff games.
And yet they lost both games.
Once Bakersfield survived that series, the Train Robbers became extraordinarily difficult to stop.
The confidence from those comebacks carried directly into the Tucson series.
Instead of needing another miracle, Bakersfield swept the Saguaros.
Suddenly the team that had nearly been eliminated in the first round was headed to Texas to play for everything.
Fleckenstein's Three Wins Become Part of Pecos League History
Fleckenstein's performance deserves its own place in Train Robbers history.
Pitchers rarely have the opportunity to earn three victories in a short postseason.
Fleckenstein did it during a championship run.
More importantly, those wins came when Bakersfield's season was repeatedly on the line.
His postseason work became an early chapter in a career that ultimately ended with Fleckenstein holding the Pecos League's all-time strikeout record.
It is difficult to imagine the 2018 Train Robbers reaching Alpine without him.
The Train Robbers had only begun playing at Sam Lynn Ballpark in 2017.
One year later, they were champions.
The accomplishment immediately changed the identity of the franchise.
The Train Robbers were no longer simply the independent team that arrived after affiliated baseball left Bakersfield.
They were champions.
The title also gave Sam Lynn Ballpark something that decades of affiliated minor league baseball had never produced: a championship team representing Bakersfield.
That made 2018 historic not only for the Pecos League but for professional baseball in the city.
Bryan Kloppe's Place in Bakersfield Baseball History
Managers are ultimately remembered by what their teams accomplish in the postseason.
They defeated a California City club many thought was better.
They survived enormous deficits.
They swept Bill Moore's Tucson Saguaros.
They traveled more than 1,000 miles to Alpine.
And they won the Pecos League Championship.
No Bakersfield Train Robbers manager has duplicated it.
No other Train Robbers roster has duplicated it.
And no other Bakersfield minor league baseball team has duplicated it.
The 2018 Train Robbers will forever be the championship team.
They had the hometown power hitter in Nick Vehlewald.
They had their ace in Rob Lain.
They had Brett Balkin and Kyle Bonicki delivering in the postseason.
They had the future Pecos League career strikeout leader Jonathon Fleckenstein earning three playoff victories when the Train Robbers needed them most.
And they had Bryan Kloppe leading them through every round.
From the comeback victories over California City, to the sweep of Tucson, to the final celebration in Alpine, the 2018 Bakersfield Train Robbers accomplished something no Bakersfield minor league baseball team had ever done before and none has done since: they finished the season as champions.
