Cougars clinch playoff spot with win over Dogs
The Kane County Cougars are once again going to have their presence felt in the Miles Wolff Cup playoffs after clinching their spot with a 5-2 win over the Chicago Dogs Saturday night at Northwestern Medicine Field.
The Cougars (47-51) struck first after three innings of scoreless baseball against Steven Lacey (2-2). Marcus Chiu was hit by a pitch and stole second. Later, Todd Lott picked up a single to set up runners at the corners. After Claudio Finol walked to load the bases, Lacey hit Josh Allen with a pitch, bringing in Chiu and giving the Cougars an early 1-0 lead. Kane County would extend that lead after Nick Dalesandro reached on an infield single, scoring two more runs in Lott and Finol to give the Cougars a 3-0 lead.
But in the fifth inning, the Dogs (50-47) picked up their first run against Chris Mazza (5-6). Former Cougar Tripp Clark hit his first triple of the season and was driven in on the next at-bat by Jacob Maiben to cut the lead to 3-1. In the top of the sixth, Jacob Teter launched a ball over the right field wall to lead off the inning and cut the lead down even more to 3-2.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Cougars slammed the door on the comeback. Trendon Craig blasted a single back up the middle, and then Chiu shot a ball down the left field line, scoring Lott and making the score 4-2. Kane County would find another run after Lott shot a ball through the infield, driving in Chiu and pushing the lead to 5-2.
Logan Nissen and Casey Crosby retired the next six Dogs in order to set up Jake Gozzo to go for his 18 th save of the year and clinch a playoff spot for the Cougars. After retiring the first two batters he faced, it came down to Tripp Clark for Chicago as their last hope. Clark skied a ball into shallow left field. Zane Spinn tracked it down and camped under it. The ball fell into his glove, and sealed the 5-2 win, but more importantly: Clinched the defending champions to appear in their fourth straight Miles Wolff Cup playoffs.
This four-game series with the Dogs will continue tomorrow, August 31 st at 6:30 PM at Northwestern Medicine Field. The Cougars will have right-hander Vin Timpanelli (6-8, 4.33) on the mound. It will be Neon Night at the ballpark with a neon glow in the dark baseball giveaway. There will also be a pregame concert from The Stingrays, and performances by Grace Good. There will also be postgame fireworks. For tickets and more, visit kccougars.com or call 630-232-8811.