Kane County Cougars clobber Chicago Dogs

The battle of Illinois is set for an epic Game 3 after the Kane County Cougars breezed past the Chicago Dogs 13-1 on Saturday night at Northwestern Medicine Field in Geneva.

The Cougars (20-24) dropped in three of their runs in the bottom of the first inning against Dogs (25-20) starter John Baker (5-3). After Trendon Craig and Josh Allen each reached on a pair of singles, Armond Upshaw grounded into a fielder’s choice, scoring Craig in the process and giving the Cougars a 1-0 lead. The next hitter, Tripp Clark, then drove a ball into the outfield that brought Allen and Upshaw around to score and extend the lead to 3-0.

Kane County added to the lead with a run in the bottom of the third off the bat of Clark, when he singled in Oscar Santos and pushed the Cougars lead to 4-1.

Westin Muir (4-3) pitched a gem of a game allowing just one earned run and four hits through six innings, earning his second win in his last two appearances. The Dogs’ lone run came in the top of the fourth inning off the bat of the debuting Nick Penzetta, who singled in Brantley Bell and made the score 4-1.

In the fourth inning, however, the Cougars ran away with the game. Following two hits from Claudio Finol and Craig, Allen stepped up and smoked a ball through the hole between short and third to drive in Finol, pushing the score to 5-1. Marcus Chiu then singled to set up the bases loaded. That brought up Oscar Santos, and he took the biggest swing of the game. Santos smashed a ball into deep right center field, and watched it sail over the wall for a grand slam, clearing the bases and giving the Cougars a demanding 9-1 lead.