Sports do not get much sweeter, if not sappier, than the too-corny-for-movies way the Sioux Falls Canaries took down their league's best team, the Sioux City Explorers, on the road in the first round of the playoffs. Having been flattened 5-0 at home in Game 1 and then nine outs away from their season coming to a crushing end (down 5-2 in the seventh inning of Game 2), the Birds exploded for 14 runs in two innings to win 16-8 and tie the series, then blew out the Explorers 7-2 in Sioux City the next night to win the series. How? How did the seemingly smothered Canaries all of sudden bolt out of their cage and wreak havoc on the American Association of Professional Baseball's Behemoth? Ninth-year Mike Manager has guided the Canaries from the very bottom of the league in every facet his first few years, to back-to-back playoff first round playoff exits (2023-24), to now being the favorite to win their first league championship series in 17 years. They are the top team standing of the final four. This kind of comeback did not come out of nowhere. Meyer has built the team from the ground up and explains how it was always in them, and how emotional and proud he was at the comeback. Now, the Canaries host two second round playoff games at The Birdcage on Thursday and Friday at 6:35 p.m. against another rival — the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks. The series is tied 1-1 after the squads split the first two games in Fargo on Monday and Tuesday. Meyer all but confirmed the future status of all-time league home run king and Canaries Hall of Fame shoe-in Jabari Henry. Could these be his final swings in The Birdcage? If the Canaries win both games in front of home fans, they will advance to the championship series of the American Association of Professional Baseball for the fourth time in the 33-season modern history of the club. If the Canaries and Redhawks each win a game on Thursday and Friday, The Birdcage will host a winner-take-all Game 5 on Saturday night at 6:35 p.m., offering all the same deals. First pitch is at 6:35 p.m. both nights, with gates opening at 5:35 p.m. All tickets to these games are just $10, except in the "Diamond Club" behind home plate, where for $30, fans get padded up-close seats and an "all-inclusive wristband," meaning all the hot dogs, bratwursts, and hamburgers you can eat, plus all the domestic beer and/or water you can drink. Also, 12 oz. Cans of Coors Light will be on sale for $2.25 until first pitch. Tickets can be purchased online at tickets.sfcanaries.com, by calling the box office at 605-336-6060, or by visiting The Birdcage front office from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Walk-up tickets will be sold at The Birdcage ticket windows starting at 5 p.m.