Calixte sparks Cougars' win

A home run and a triple from Orlando Calixte helped sparked the Kane County Cougars to a 4-1 victory over the Quad Cities River Bandits on Friday night at Fifth Third Bank Ballpark in Geneva.

Calixte tripled to begin the bottom of the second against left-hander Jonathan Cornelius (1-2). Calixte scored on a line single to right off the bat of Tim Ferguson to give the Cougars (33-28) a 1-0 lead. Kenny Swab walked ahead of Ferguson and scored on a sacrifice fly from Justin Trapp to make it 2-0.

Angel Baez only lasted 4-plus innings before leaving the game with an apparent injury. He allowed a run on 3 hits, with Quad Cities (29-32) picking up its run in the top of the fourth on a wild pitch that scored Juan Castillo.

Jonathan Dooley (2-0) replaced Baez and didn't allow a baserunner over 3 innings while striking out two.

The Cougars extended their advantage in the fourth when Calixte blasted a shot over the fence in left for his team-leading ninth home run of the season. Dean Espy followed up with a double and scored on Swab's single, which included an error by left fielder Virgil Hill. Rudy Brown made his Cougars debut on the mound with a scoreless eighth inning. Matt Ridings earned his second save with a perfect ninth.