Cougars stay in first place

The first-place Kane County Cougars opened up a nine-game homestand Saturday night with a 6-4 victory over the Burlington Bees at Elfstrom Stadium. The Cougars maintained their 1-game lead atop the Western Division.

Though they did see a 4-run lead disappear, the Cougars never trailed. Alex Llanos scored on a wild pitch by Sean Murphy (0-3) in the bottom of the first and then scored on an RBI double by Brett Eibner in the third to make it 2-0.

Eibner came home on a Burlington error, and Cheslor Cuthbert hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Brian Fletcher to make it 4-0.

Starter Yordano Ventura was cruising along until the Bees rallied for 4 runs in the fourth inning. Ventura left because of an injury with one out in the fifth and ended up with a no-decision.

He gave up 4 runs on 6 hits with 2 walks and 4 strikeouts in 4⅓ innings. Allen Caldwell (3-0) entered and silenced the Bees for 3⅔ innings with 1-hit shutout relief and 7 strikeouts to earn the win.

Cuthbert doubled in Fletcher in the sixth, and Geulin Beltre scored on a wild pitch in the seventh for the 6-4 final. Nick Rogers earned his second save with a scoreless ninth.

Racers 7, Bandits 3:Looking to recover from Friday#146;s extra-inning loss, the Bandits sent Jamee Juarez to the circle to face off against former Bandit Kristina Thorson.Following an infield groundout by Sharonda McDonald in the first inning, the Racers#146; bats came alive and they never looked back. With Jessica Williams and Taylor Schlopy on base, Samantha Marder crushed a home run to center field giving the Racers a 3-0 lead.The Bandits fell to 12-7.In the bottom of the fourth, the Bandits scored their first run on a Shannon Doepking double to center, scoring Caitlin Lever to cut the Racers#146; lead to 5.The Bandits kept their hopes alive in the fifth inning. With Danielle Zymkowitz and Amber Patton on base after back-to-back infield singles, Goler hit a towering home run over the right-field bleachers, cutting the Racers lead in half. The blast was measured at 250 feet.Fielders 6, Scorpions 1:The Lake County Fielders powered their way past the Yuma Scorpions on Friday night for their 24th win of the season.The Fielders were led by starting pitcher Dan Blewett (5-1), who went the distance and gave up 1 run on 6 hits with 5 strikeouts. He leads the Fielders in wins.