Dogs beat Cougars in 10 innings

The Kane County Cougars fell to the Chicago Dogs 6-4 in 10 innings on Wednesday afternoon in Geneva.

With the game tied at 4 in the top of the 10th inning and an inherited runner at second base, Josh Altmann hit a deep drive down the left field line off Cougars' (2-3) reliever Ryan Richardson (0-1). The ball hit off the foul pole resulting in a 2-run homer to give the Dogs (3-2) a 6-4 lead. There was some question about whether the ball was fair or foul, but it was ultimately ruled fair. Following Altmann's home run, the Cougars did have a runner reach in the 10th, but ultimately were held without a run by Jonathan Cheshire to end the ballgame.

For a second straight game, the Dogs jumped out to an early lead. Facing Cougars' starter CJ Eldred, Chicago struck for 3 runs in the top of the third. Matt Bottcher, Nick Heath and Altmann all notched RBI hits in the frame to put Chicago up 3-0.

After surrendering 3 runs, Eldred settled into a groove. In his first start with the Cougars, the right hander allowed just those 3 runs on 6 hits with 4 strikeouts across 5 innings.

Eldred's effort kept Kane County in the ballgame, and the Cougars began to come back in the bottom of the sixth. TJ Bennett led off the inning with a single against Dogs' reliever Jonathon Tripp, which was followed up with a double by JD Osborne. With runners at second and third, Jonah Davis grounded out to score Bennett and make it 3-1. Then, Jordan Howard blooped a single to center field to pull the Cougars within a run.

After the Dogs countered with a run in the top of the seventh, the Cougars responded again in the bottom half. Following back-to-back singles by Cornelius Randolph and Jimmy Kerrigan, Bennett crushed a double into the right-center field gap to tie the game at four. Both teams were held scoreless in the eighth and ninth innings.

Brian Schlitter (1-0) earned the win for Chicago by pitching a scoreless ninth. Once again, the Cougars received quality contributions from the bullpen. Daniel Bies allowed one run across two innings of work and Keith Rogalla pitched a scoreless eighth inning with a strikeout.