The 2025 season has ended for the Aviators, and after the peaks and valleys of a successful campaign, changes loom in the “temp agency” that is Minor League Baseball.

Trailing 6-2 heading into the final frame of the winner-take-all AAA-National Championship game, the Aviators would have three outs to mount a four-run comeback, and they did… if only for a moment. After collecting two runs to trail the International League Champion Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp by two, Bryan Lavastida, a late-season addition to the roster, belted a 3-run shot out of right-center field. The not-so-neutral crowd of the Las Vegas Ballpark erupted as the Aviators took a 7-6 lead over Jacksonville, pulling all of the momentum to the home dugout.

Aviators pitcher Jake Walkinshaw, who at one point or another started, relieved, and closed during the season, watched Las Vegas’ comeback from the bullpen as he warmed up in case his services were needed. A fired-up Walkinshaw was ready to roll as he took the mound with a one-run lead.

“Give me a chance to get out there,” Walkinshaw said when asked what was going through his mind as the Aviators overtook Jacksonville. “I want to pitch one more time for this team, this year. As a reliever, you live for those moments.”

Walkinshaw, who closed out the Tacoma Rainiers, retiring six of the seven batters he faced, is no stranger to postseason success after embarking on a champagne parade to the center field pool area only days prior. “This was an incredible season, you know, from start to finish, Walkinshaw said. “it was super cool to see, you know, one group just dominate the first half, watch a bunch of those guys go up and play really well at the Major League level, and then, for the new guys to come in and, you know, we took our lumps in the second half a little bit, kind of learning each other as a group, and then to come in and win the PCL with that group was really special.”
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Las Vegas saw a bevvy of changes in the second half of the season. Call-ups, signings, and roster cuts resulted in roughly 80 different Aviators suiting up over the season.

After cruising to a 49-26 record in the first half of the season with standouts like Denzel Clarke, Jacob Wilson, and Nick Kurtz, Las Vegas faltered down the stretch, posting a 34-41 record and battling back and forth with a new face in the lineup every night. Never quite letting go of the stellar play that defined the first half of the season, the Aviators would earn their spot in the title game after sweeping the Tacoma Rainiers in the PCL Championship, outscoring them 14-4. Coincidentally, the same as the Aviators’ record against Tacoma in the regular season. Which was probably a big reason why Aviators bench boss Fran Riordan would take home the 2025 PCL Manager of the Year award.

But there was one more inning to end, and three outs to cross off to do it.

And wIth one out and one on, Walkinshaw would leave a first-pitch sinker over the plate for Jacksonville right fielder Jacob Berry, who would end the AAA-Baseball season with a swing, homering into center field as the stadium fell silent just as fast as it erupted, with those who didn’t leave early watching in silence as the Jumbo Shrimp players surrounded Berry at home plate.

“I wanted to lead, and Brian Lavastita did that with the homer and, you know, you wouldn’t find a happier person than me in there,” Walkinshaw said. “Unfortunately, it’s baseball. one day, you’re closing out a series, and you’re on top of the world, and the next, you know, you’re getting walked off on, it’s all part of it.”

Lavastida, a late-season addition to the Aviators in a season full of fresh faces, ups, downs, and everything in between, was a bright spot behind home plate after Willie MacIver was called up to the majors and Daniel Susac landed on the I.L for a time. With so many players moving around during the season, the offseason brings even more uncertainty, Walkinshaw included, as he’s due to be a free agent after coming up in the Athletics’ organization since he was drafted in 2019.

“There’s never a season in pro ball where you get the same group of guys for two seasons in a row,” Walkinshaw said when asked what this season meant to him, with his future in the valley uncertain. “I’ve made a ton of friends in this organization, and just to spend some more time with them, and talk about all the fun we had in the bullpen, you know, travel days, just everything… I’m gonna miss these guys.”

While the 2025 season ended with heartbreak, the Aviators will head into the offseason as reigning PCL Champions, etching their names in the record books in dramatic fashion. For Walkinshaw, it’s an offseason of the unknown. He will surely be back in the Ballpark on the Aviators schedule, but in orange and blue?

Time will tell.