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Idaho Falls wins first Pioneer League title as KC affiliate

KANSAS CITY -- Catcher Frank Schwindel had four RBIs, three on a homer, as the short-season Class A Idaho Falls Chukars defeated Milwaukee's Helena affiliate, 6-0, for their first Pioneer League title as an affiliate of the Royals.

Schwindel, the Royals' 18th-round pick from June's First-Year Player Draft, put the Chukars on the board with his two-out homer in the fourth inning and drove in another run with a sacrifice fly in the sixth.

Cody Stubbs knocked in a run on a single to center field, then scored on an RBI single by Elier Hernandez in the seventh inning.

Right-hander Jake Junis, the Royals' 29th-round selection in the 2011 Draft, earned the victory after allowing just three hits in five innings a day after his 21st birthday. He also had two walks and eight strikeouts. Kyle Bartsch added three scoreless innings with just one hit and six strikeouts to set up Glenn Sparkman, who completed the shutout with a scoreless ninth.

This was the first playoff appearance for the Chukars since 2007, which ended the longest playoff drought in the Pioneer League. It was the organization's seventh title, with the last coming as an affiliate of the Padres.

Dick Kaegel is a reporter for MLB.com. Kathleen Gier is an associate reporter for MLB.com.
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