Cougars rally past Snappers

Trailing 4-3 in the eighth inning, the Kane County Cougars rallied for 5 runs to defeat the Beloit Snappers 8-4 on Monday at Fifth Third Bank Ballpark in Geneva.

Snappers reliever Andres Avila (0-1) had not allowed a run in 4 innings until the eighth when Marco Hernandez and Gioskar Amaya reached on infield singles. After Yaniel Cabezas laid down a sacrifice bunt, Oliver Zapata hit a bouncer to second that Chris Bostick fielded, but his throw home was mishandled by catcher Nick Rickles as Hernandez scored the tying run.

Pin-Chieh Chen delivered a 2-run single to left-center that scored Amaya and Zapata to give the Cougars (24-25) a 6-4 cushion. Two batters later, Dan Vogelbach put the game out of reach with a 2-run homer down the right-field line to make it 8-4.

Stephen Perakslis (1-2) pitched a scoreless ninth as the Cougars nailed down a series victory over the Snappers. Perakslis worked the final 3 innings without allowing a hit. In the seventh, he walked the first man he faced, Rickles, who later scored on a sacrifice fly.

Michael Heesch started for the Cougars and gave up 3 runs in 6 innings.

The Snappers (29-21) grabbed a lead in the second when Renato Nunez doubled and scored on Ryan Mathews’ groundout. Rock Shoulders singled and scored on a wild pitch to even the game at 1-1 in the second. Both teams traded a pair of tallies in the third with Jeimer Candelario and Hernandez each driving in a run for the Cougars.

The Cougars begin a three-game road series against the Quad Cities River Bandits today at 7 p.m. at Modern Woodmen Park. Right-hander Dillon Maples (0-0) will start for the Cougars.