Grand slam promotion pays off big for fan at Elfstrom Stadium

You couldn't have asked for anything more after Thursday's Kane County Cougars game at Elfstrom Stadium.

The night had everything - a walk-off win, solid starting pitching, Cougars manager Aaron Nieckula getting tossed, and Greg Dowling hitting a grand slam in the sixth, which not only gave the Cougars the lead, but in turn, was part of a promotion by the Daily Herald called the Grand Slam Inning.

The promotion featured one lucky fan winning $10,000 if a Cougar hit a grand slam in the sixth. After Dowling hit his first-ever professional grand slam, fans anxiously awaited to see if they were the lucky fan to receive the money. As of Thursday night, the holder of the ticket for Section 104, Row L, Seat 5 had not claimed the prize. That changed Friday, when Kristin Lake from Plainfield came forward to claim the prize.

Also, that same amount of money was donated to Ozzie's Outreach charity. After the game, Dowlingf received a check for $1,000 as well for contributing.

"He earned himself a little pay day," Nieckula said.

"I was just happy to get a big hit," Dowling added. "It felt good to get that."

As for the check?

"It might help to pay a few bills here and there," he said. "It's a pretty nice pickup."

Paramore's power: Catcher Petey Paramore tallied his first professional home run Thursday. Since his arrival with the Cougars, Paramore has struggled a bit with his batting average of .157.

"He's going to hit," Nieckula said. "He's a good player. He's going to be just fine. He flashed some of that power today."

No. 99 and counting: On Aug. 12, former Cougar Cliff Pennington became the 99th player in Cougars history to make it to the major leagues. He was called up by the Oakland Athletics, the MLB affiliate, after being in Class AAA Sacramento. Pennington served as a pinch runner in Friday night's game against the White Sox in Oakland and scored when Kurt Suzuki hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth to win the game 6-4.

Pennington was with the Cougars in 2005, when Nieckula was the team's hitting coach.

"Good kid," Nieckula said. "Actually, I take that back. Great kid. Great kid to be around. It's nice to see former players make it to the big leagues. It's rewarding."