Kane County Cougars comeback effort falls short

In another near walk-off effort, the Kane County Cougars (8-4) fell in a narrow defeat to the Beloit Snappers (5-7) by a 6-5 tally at Northwestern Medicine Field. The Cougars scored 2 late runs in the seventh inning, nearly tying the game on a deep fly ball to right field off the bat of Luis Basabe, robbed of a home run from Beloit's Luis Barrera.

The loss evens the series between the two clubs.

Unlike the previous night's pitching battle, Tuesday afternoon's contest was defined by offense. In the first inning, Anfernee Grier rapped his fourth double of the season and scored on an RBI knock from Ramon Hernandez.

Grier finished with a team high 3 hits.

With the Cougars leading 1-0, the Snappers struck for 2 runs in the third inning, as right-handed starter Emilio Vargas (1-1) left the game. Beloit's Edwin Diaz scored 2 runs on an RBI single to center field, giving Beloit a 2-1 advantage.

To make it five unanswered, the Snappers posted 3 more runs in the fourth to move up 5-1. A double by Collin Theroux scored a run. And Javon Shelby smashed his second home run of the season for a 2-run blast. All of the

fourth inning runs were plated against Cougars' righty Wei-Chieh Huang (1-0).

Attempting a comeback charge, the Cougars cut the Snappers lead to 5-3 in the home half of the fifth inning. On a torrid stretch over the past two series, outfielder Marcus Wilson's double plated Paxton De La Garza, and Wilson scored on a base hit from Anfernee Grier. Beloit tacked on one more in the sixth, only for the Cougars to plate a pair in the seventh inning to shave the Snappers' lead to 6-5. With 4 hits in the frame, Jazz Chisholm and Jason Morozowski smashed RBI hits, pelting the Beloit bullpen. Trying to keep the Snappers at bay, the Cougars saved a run from scoring in the top of the eighth on a great play from Morozowski. On a throw from the outfield at home plate, Morozowski tossed out Eric Marinez trying to score on a single.

But the Snappers gave the Cougars a dose of their own medicine in the bottom of the eighth inning. On what appeared to be a game-tying home run from Basabe, Beloit's right-fielder Barrera snatched away the ball at the wall keeping it a 6-5 Snappers lead.

To close it out in the ninth, Beloit right-hander Nick Highberger (1) set down the Cougars in succession for the save. Vargas suffered the loss and Snappers' right-hander Matt Milburn (1-1) picked up the victory. The Cougars host the Snappers for a Wednesday morning rubber-match at 11 a.m.