Gary SouthShore takes series finale from Cougars

The Kane County Cougars (16-10) dropped their first series of the season Sunday afternoon, falling 2-1 to the Gary SouthShore RailCats (13-13) at Northwestern Medicine Field.

The matchup featured two of the hottest arms in the American Association, and neither disappointed.

The Cougars’ Konnor Ash (3-3) and Gary’s Deyni Olivero (3-1) traded a scoreless inning early before Gary broke through in the second. After an infield single and an error put a runner in scoring position, Kevin Watson Jr. lined a two-out single into center field to score Colin Summerhill and give the RailCats a 1-0 lead. The run was unearned.

Ash settled in from there. The reigning American Association Pitcher of the Month retired 10 consecutive hitters at one point and carried the one-run deficit into the eighth inning. The right-hander finished eight innings, allowing just two runs while striking out four.

Meanwhile, Olivero was nearly untouchable. The RailCats starter scattered six singles across eight scoreless innings and did not issue a walk. Kane County put runners on base throughout the afternoon, but three double plays erased potential rallies and prevented the Cougars from finding a breakthrough.

The Cougars' best opportunities came in the fifth and seventh innings. Back-to-back singles by Charles Mack and Sam Dexter were erased by an inning-ending double play in the fifth, while a leadoff single from Claudio Finol was followed by another twin killing in the seventh.

Gary added an insurance run in the eighth when Camryn Williams lined an RBI double into the right-center field gap, scoring Elvis Peralta and extending the lead to 2-0.

Kane County made one final push in the ninth. Josh Allen ripped a double down the left field line, and a sacrifice fly from Matt Bottcher brought him home to cut the deficit to 2-1.