Mateo, Cougars roll 9-1

DAYTON, Ohio — Danny Mateo delivered 2 home runs, including a 3-run shot in the fourth inning, as the Kane County Cougars dropped the Dayton Dragons 9-1 on Saturday night at Fifth Third Field.

Mateo’s first blast gave the Cougars (49-49, 15-13) a 3-0 lead in the third, and it followed a solo homer from Tim Ferguson against Dayton starter Wes Mugarian (0-2).

Earlier in the second inning, Michael Antonio doubled and scored on a Dean Espy double.

In the fourth, the Cougars pulled away with 5 runs. Espy singled to start the inning and advanced to third on a Henry Moreno double.

Kenny Swab lifted a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Espy. Moreno also scored thanks to a throwing error by shortstop Juan Perez.

After Alex Llanos singled and Ferguson drew a free pass, Mateo drilled his second home run to make it 8-0.

The Cougars picked up another run in the sixth when Ferguson grounded out to second, scoring Yowill Espinal.

Dayton bagged its tally in the sixth against Kyle Smith (1-1) with Kyle Waldrop’s RBI single scoring Yorman Rodriguez.

Smith struck out nine in 5 innings, while Mike Giovenco and Andrew Triggs combined for the final 10 outs.