Cougars begin homestand with win over Clinton
To begin an eight-game homestand Monday, the Kane County Cougars (3-2, 42-30) used a comeback effort with a 3-run sixth inning to defeat the visiting Clinton LumberKings (1-4, 32-40) by a 5-4 final. It is the fifth time in as many tries the Cougars have defeated the LumberKings this season.
At the outset, it was the Cougars who burst ahead to a 2-0 advantage. It started in the third inning when Frank Christy and Jose Queliz led off the inning with back-to-back singles. And with 2 outs, Anfernee Grier came through with an RBI double. In the fourth, Mark Karaviotis reached on an error at shortstop and came home on an RBI 2-bagger from Ramon Hernandez.
The lead was short-lived as Clinton registered 3 tallies in the fifth inning. After allowing a walk and a double, left-hander Mack Lemieux (2-2) surrendered a 2-RBI double to the last hitter in the order, Johmbeyker Morales. Clinton's Luis Rengifo followed with the go-ahead knock as Clinton quickly took a 3-2 lead.
In a comeback effort, the Cougars grabbed back the lead in the sixth inning. Scoring a trio of runs, Karaviotis, Hernandez, and Manny Jefferson strung together 3 consecutive hits to load the bags. Frank Christy then swatted a groundball to first, mishandled by Nick Thurman, as the game tied up a 3-3. Jose Queliz then hit into a double play, but the Cougars managed another run to take a lead, and tacked on an insurance tally on an RBI from Fernery Ozuna.
Clinton tried their best to storm back in the seventh. With the bases loaded and 1 out, Joe Rizzo chipped an RBI single to left field getting the LumberKings within 1. But right-handed reliever Trevor Simms (1-0) struck out Nick Thurman and Dimas Ojeda to leave 3 on the bases, preserving a 5-4 Cougars cushion.
Simms hung on in the eighth and ninth innings as well for his first save of the season. With an inning and two-thirds of work on one run, right-hander Tyler Mark (4-2) picked up the win, as reliever Ronald Dominguez (0-4) took the loss in three innings on as many unearned runs.