Liranzo's Sixth-Inning Homer Leads Erie to Fifth Straight Southwest Division Title

RICHMOND, VA - The Erie SeaWolves are headed back to the Eastern League Championship Series for a fifth consecutive year after a 5-3 win over the Richmond Flying Squirrels on Thursday night at CarMax Park.

Thayron Liranzo came to the plate with two-on and a three-run deficit. With one swing, the 23-year-old changed the course of the night and propelled the SeaWolves to a series sweep.

"When I came to the plate and I saw first and second, I knew it was my moment." Liranzo said after the win. "And God helped me, he did it for me."

Kenny Serwa got the nod from Tony Cappuccilli for Game 2 and the knuckleballer delivered. The 29-year-old posted three scoreless innings to set the tone and match the zeros that Richmond's pitchers put up in the first three frames.

2026 Giants first round pick Jackson Flora started for the Flying Squirrels and lived up to the hype. The 21-year-old right-hander pitched two perfect innings with four strikeouts before exiting the game after 28 pitches. Jacob Bresnahan replaced him on the mound and picked up right where he left off with zeros in the third, fourth and fifth innings.

Richmond opened the scoring in the fourth inning to back up their dominant pitching with a three-run homer from Kaeden Kent with two outs and two strikes to put the Flying Squirrels in front 3-0 after four.

Erie responded in the sixth against Bresnahan. Seth Stephenson led off the inning with an infield single and reached second on an error by third baseman Dayson Croes. Zyhir Hope worked a walk to set the stage for Thayron Liranzo's game-tying blast.

The SeaWolves weren't done in the sixth as Chris Meyers followed Liranzo with a double. Luke Shliger and Izaac Pacheco both worked walks and a two-out passed ball brought home the go-ahead run.

Stephenson led off the seventh with a walk and worked his way around the bases with a stolen base, a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly from Hope.

Tanner Kohlhepp pitched the eighth inning in relief of Serwa, who finished the night after seven innings and faced the minimum ten batters after the home run. Kohlhepp tossed a scoreless eighth inning before Moises Rodriguez entered for the ninth and slammed the door to close off the win.

The SeaWolves open the Eastern League Championship Series on Sunday night at UPMC Park against the Reading Fightin Phils. Reading took four of six when the two teams met last week to close the regular season.

The 2026 Eastern League Playoffs are presented by UPMC. Single-game tickets, group experiences, and hospitality areas, including ballpark suites, picnics, The Club by Synchrony, and the Bud Light Party Deck, are now available for playoff games by visiting SeaWolves.com, calling 814-456-1300, or visiting the UPMC Park Ticket Office.