Cougars rally past Kansas City

The Kane County Cougars closed out the first series of the 2026 season with a 8-5 comeback victory over the Kansas City Monarchs on Sunday afternoon at Northwestern Medicine Field.

Early in the ballgame, Kansas City (1-2) jumped out to an early 2-0 lead against Cougars’ (2-1) starter Ben Kowalski.

The Cougars struck back in the bottom of the first. Josh Allen was hit by a pitch with one out before stealing second to get in scoring position. Matt Bottcher then poked an opposite-field single to score Allen and pull the Cougars within a run.

In the next half inning, Kansas City went up 3-1. The Cougars struck right back in the bottom half on an RBI single by Charles Mack that made it 3-2.

The Monarch’s took a 5-2 lead in the top of the sixth, but the Cougars responded in a big way in the bottom of the sixth.

Mack and Zane Spinn worked back-to-back walks, and Allen walked to load the bases. Bottcher cracked a bases-clearing double to left field, knotting the score at five all. Later in the inning, Bottcher came in to score on an Armond Upshaw double play groundout to put the Cougars up 6-5.

In the bottom of seventh, the Cougars added to the lead. Alex McGarry worked a walk to lead off the inning. Sam Dexter then smoked a triple off the wall in left field to score McGarry and make it 7-5. One batter later, Mack poked another RBI single to score Dexter and push the lead to 8-5.

Once the Cougars took the lead, the bullpen shut the door. Jordan Martinson, Art Warren, and Jake Gozzo combined to hold Kansas City without a baserunner over the final three innings. The trio combined for four strikeouts. Gozzo earned his second save of the year with a 1-2-3 ninth.