Kane County Cougars rally to beat Milwaukee in front of biggest crowd of the season

The Kane County Cougars treated the largest crowd of the season to a dramatic comeback victory, as the Cougars dug out of a 5-0 hole to top the Milwaukee Milkmen 9-7 on Thursday night at Northwestern Medicine Field.

The club announced 8,796 fans were in attendance for “Outer Banks Night” in Geneva.

Milwaukee (37-40) jumped out to an early lead against Cougars (45-33) starter Garrett Williams. The Milkmen put up three runs in the first inning, as Willie Escala, Jaylin Davis, and Oscar Santos each picked up RBI singles.

The Milkmen added to the lead in the top of the second. Reggie Pruitt Jr. led off the inning with a walk before stealing second. Two batters later, Escala drove in his second run of the ballgame with a single that made it 4-0. Later in the inning, Davis picked up another RBI with a single that scored Escala to make it 5-0.

In the bottom of the third, the Cougars comeback effort began. Facing Milwaukee starter Davis Welch, Armond Upshaw worked a walk before Alex McGarry singled to put runners at the corners. Cornelius Randolph then grounded into a fielder’s choice to score the first Cougars run of the night, and an errant throw moved McGarry to third and Randolph to second.

Two batters later, Claudio Finol hit a line drive single to score McGarry and make it 5-2.

Milwaukee added a run in the top of the sixth on a single by Chase Estep that made it 6-2. However, A.J. Jones did a fantastic job in long relief to keep the Cougars in the ballgame. The right-hander limited Milwaukee to one run on two hits with four strikeouts against one walk.