After a 12-day hiatus from their beautiful home ballpark, the Fort Wayne TinCaps return home today to begin the second half of their season.

The Caps will host South Bend for a four-game series at Parkview Field. Tonight's game, as well as Friday's and Saturday's, begins at 7:05 p.m., while Sunday's game will have a 3:05 p.m. first pitch.

It's been a historic season in Fort Wayne, as the Caps won 45 games, the most in franchise history, over the first half of Midwest League play, and in the process captured the first-half Eastern Division title.

“We'd like to come back even stronger in the second half,” Fort Wayne third baseman James Darnell said. “With the types of players we have, if you give us a little bit of rest, we're going to come out on fire.”

Most of the team should be well-rested after a three-day break earlier this week. However, that is not the case for five of the players. Darnell was joined by teammates Sawyer Carroll, Brad Brach, Anthony Bass and Zach Herr as participants in the Midwest League All-Star Game on Tuesday in Clinton, Iowa.

Carroll was nothing short of magnificent in the event, as he had four hits and stole a pair of bases and was named the “Star of Stars” Award winner.

The Silver Hawks are well aware not only of Carroll's talent, but of the entire Fort Wayne team and the problems it poses. Though South Bend ended an eight-game skid by beating Fort Wayne 8-3 on Sunday to close the first half of the season, the TinCaps had beaten South Bend 11 straight times up to that point.

“We're tired of Fort Wayne taking it to us,” Silver Hawk manager Mark Haley said. “(TinCap president) Mike Nutter's laughing (at us).”

One player who probably won't make an appearance for South Bend during this series, but will be instrumental in its success soon, is Justin Parker.

The third baseman from Wayne High School has been on the disabled list with a shoulder injury, and his manager desperately wants him to return.

“(Justin) probably won't play (against Fort Wayne),” Haley said. “We're probably looking at a week from Saturday. He's just going to start taking batting practice right now. But we need to get him back; he's a big part of our lineup.”

The second-year pro has gotten off to a nice start this season by hitting at a .301 clip with 13 doubles and 21 RBIs.

“We've always had trouble with Fort Wayne,” Haley said. “Even when we won it in (2005), the one team that we couldn't beat was Fort Wayne.”