Kane County Cougars clinch playoff berth

Posted August 31, 2011 12:00 am

Special to the Daily Herald

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — For the seventh time in nine seasons and 13th time in 21 years, the Kane County Cougars have reached the Midwest League playoffs.

They beat the Cedar Rapids Kernels 4-3 on Wednesday night at Veterans Memorial Stadium to clinch a postseason berth.

The Cougars have five games left in the regular season and hold the wild-card spot. They are 2½ games behind Clinton for the top spot and host the LumberKings for three games this weekend to close out the regular season.

The Cougars never trailed Wednesday. Brett Eibner tripled and scored in the second and singled and scored in the fourth off Brian Diemer (9-11) to make it 2-0. Geulin Beltre tripled and scored on an error in the sixth for a 3-0 lead. Winning pitcher Jason Mitchell (3-0) dominated in his return to the starting rotation. He tossed 5⅔ innings of 3-hit shutout ball and has not allowed a run in his last 21⅓ innings. Mitchell (3-0) walked one and fanned four in the win.

Article Comments

Article Comments

Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.