McWilliams impressive in Cougars win

Behind the impressive start from right-hander Sam McWilliams (5-2), the Kane County Cougars (26-20) started a pivotal seven-game home stand with a 2-1 victory over the Cedar Rapids Kernels (27-21). The triumph gives the Cougars a tie for first place in the Western Division with a chance to be in first all by themselves Saturday.

After falling in shutout fashion to Burlington in the Cougars previous series, it was important to have a strong start in Friday night's contest. That's exactly what the Cougars did by scoring a run in the first to take a 1-0 lead. Facing eventual losing right-handed starter, Max Cordy (0-2), a base hit by Luis Silverio to start the offense resulted in an RBI base hit a few batters later from Marcus Wilson.

The Cougars struck for another single tally in the third to go up 2-0. Silverio again set the table with a single. On an infield base hit for the next swinger, Anfernee Grier, the Kernels' third baseman Travis Blankenhorn tossed the ball wild of the first base line. Silverio came all the way around from first to score.

That's all the support the Cougars would need to provide for the pitching staff. McWilliams gained his team leading fifth win by going six frames on just 2 hits with 6 strikeouts and just 1 walk. Equally potent out of the bullpen, Mark logged two scoreless innings on as many hits and strikeouts. Mark's ERA stands at 1.14 this season.

But in the ninth, with right-hander Ryan Burr (1-1) on the mound, the Kernels scored a run. With two outs, Jaylin Davis spliced a double to the right-center gap, and Blankenhorn atoned for his error with an RBI single. Burr then allowed another base to Brandon Lopez to put two on the basepaths. But Burr stranded the game-tying run on second base for his second save of the season.

Game two of the four game set will be played Saturday at 6:30 p.m. from Northwestern Medicine Field.