Kane County Cougars' rally fall short

Coming down to the final strike, the Kane County Cougars (21-4, 57-36) nearly pulled off a 3-run comeback in the bottom of the ninth inning but fell 3-2 in the season-series finale Monday night against the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (8-16, 31-63) at Fifth Third Bank Ballpark.

Down 3-0 in the bottom of the ninth, the Cougars' late rally began with Henry Castillo's leadoff double. Kodi Medeiros followed by hitting Joe Munoz to bring the tying run to the plate, but after pinch hitter Michael Perez and Victor Reyes flied out Chuck Taylor was the last man standing. Taylor kept the offense moving with a hit up the middle to score Castillo and end the shutout. Ildemaro Vargas continued with an RBI single that brought Taylor to third. Vargas advanced to second base on a bad throw from center. Cody Regis' at-bat had the potential tying and winning runs in scoring position, but he bounced into a game-ending groundout.

Wisconsin saw only 1 run through the first seven innings as Carlos Leal homered off Josh Taylor (1-1) in the fourth. Despite the loss, Taylor put together his best start as a Cougar this year with a quality 7-inning, 1-run effort.

The Timber Rattlers scored 2 big runs off Cougars reliever Myles Smith in the final two innings. With the bases loaded and two outs in the eighth, Smith walked Alan Sharkey to force in a run. In the ninth a two-out hit by pitch put Brandon Diaz aboard that later turned into the game-winning run as Blake Allemand scored him with a single.

Angel Ventura (4-4) kept the Cougars scoreless for 6 innings, allowing only 4 hits.

The Cougars welcome in the Quad Cities River Bandits for a three-game series beginning Tuesday. Chris Oliver (2-0, 2.31) will take the mound for the Cougars against Quad Cities' Joshua James (2-1, 2.43).