Kane County Cougars’ comeback falls short in first game of season

In a low-scoring affair, the Kane County Cougars fell to the Sioux City Explorers 2-1 on Opening Night, but not without some late-inning drama.

Explorers (1-0) pitcher Kyle Marman tossed seven scoreless innings, striking out 12 batters along the way and did not surrender a hit. On the flip side, Konnor Ash dazzled in his Cougars (0-1) debut on the mound, pitching six innings and striking out 10. His one mistake came in the fifth inning when Torin Montgomery hit a solo home run over the left-field wall to break the tie and give the Explorers a 1-run lead.

That changed in the eighth inning, when Explorers pitcher Felix Cepeda (1-0), walked Josh Allen and Nick Dalesandro. After a successful sacrifice bunt by Nilo Rijo to move Allen and Dalesandro into scoring position, a wild pitch by Cepeda scored Allen to tie the game 1-1.

In the top of the ninth, Cougars closer Tyler Beardsley (0-1) ran into trouble with three straight walks to load the bases. Then Abdiel Layer hit a sacrifice fly to give Sioux City a 2-1 edge.

In the bottom of the ninth, the Cougars threatened as Thomas Jones worked a two-out walk and Todd Lott singled to break up the no-hitter. However, Jeremy Goins closed the door with a strikeout of Josh Allen to end the ballgame.

Despite the lack of offense, the Cougars can be proud of the 14 strikeouts they had combined from Ash, Vin Timpanelli and Beardsley.