Cougars hold on to beat Cleburne

In a roller-coaster game, the Kane County Cougars survived a late comeback by the Cleburne Railroaders, and secured a 10-8 victory Tuesday night at Northwestern Medicine Field in Geneva.

The Railroaders (17-12) scored first against Chris Mazza (2-2), picking up a run in the second off a wild pitch. The Cougars (13-15) answered with a run against Mike Shawaryn (2-3) off the bat of Oscar Santos to tie the game.

After Cleburne snatched a 3-1 lead with RBI from Shed Long Jr. and Steven Rivas, Mazza shut down the Railroaders’ next 10 batters.

The Cougars’ bats woke up in the fifth inning. Robby Martin Jr. blasted his fourth home run of the year to lead off the inning and make the score 3-2. Claudio Finol and Galli Cribbs reached on singles. Trendon Craig then reached on an error on the next at bat, scoring Finol and tying the game 3-3. Josh Allen roped a double that gave the Cougars a lead 4-3. After Marcus Chiu reached base, Nick Dalesandro grounded into a fielder’s choice that saw everyone safe, and Craig scored for a 5-3 Cougars lead. Armond Upshaw singled in Chiu, extending the lead. Oscar Santos drew a walk to load the bases. Martin scorched a grounder between first and second that scored Dalesandro and Upshaw, giving the Cougars a 8-3 lead. Cribbs smacked a single to score Martin, giving the Cougars a 9-3 lead.

Logan Nissen retired the Railroaders in order in the eighth inning. In his first save appearance, Casey Crosby struck out two in the ninth inning to secure the 10-8 victory for the Cougars.