Rangers Affiliate Frisco RoughRiders Clinches Postseason Berth

The Double-A club will head to the playoffs for the first time since 2014.

The Frisco RoughRiders clinched a spot in the Texas League postseason on Friday night with an 11-6 victory over the Northwest Arkansas Naturals.

The win allowed the RoughRiders (37-29, 73-62) to clinch the second-half championship in the Texas League’s South Division. Frisco will face the San Antonio Missions for the first game of the Division Championship Series on Tuesday.

The RoughRiders are the Texas Rangers Double-A affiliate. This will be Frisco’s first trip to the postseason since 2014.

This means the season will continue for some of the Rangers’ top young prospects, chief among them No. 2 overall prospect Jack Leiter. He made his final regular-season start for the RoughRiders on Tuesday.

Other MLB.com Top 30 Rangers prospects on the Frisco roster include outfielder Evan Carter (No. 3), pitcher Owen White (No. 4), second baseman Justin Foscue (No. 5), infielder Luisangel Acuña (No. 7), outfielder Dustin Harris (No. 9), outfielder Aaron Zavala (No. 11), pitcher Antoine Kelly (No. 14), pitcher Ricky Vanasco (No. 17), infielder Thomas Saggese (No. 20), infielder Jonathan Ornelas (No. 22), pitcher Avery Weems (No. 24) and pitcher Marc Church (No. 30).

Acuña, Carter and Saggese were only recently promoted to Frisco from High Class-A Hickory.

Several RoughRiders were announced as part of the Arizona Fall League rosters on Friday. So once they’re done with the Texas League postseason, they’ll head to the Rangers spring training facility in Surprise, Ariz., to begin play there. Those players include Acuña and Zavala, along with infielder Trevor Hauver, pitcher Nick Starr and pitcher Grant Wolfram

Also on the AFL list are first-round pick and pitcher Kumar Rocker.

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You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard

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