Cougars rally for walk-off win

After trailing, 5-0, and not having a hit through five innings, the Kane County Cougars put together a furious rally Wednesday afternoon and came back to beat the Quad Cities River Bandits, 7-6, in front of 5,996 at Elfstrom Stadium.

The Cougars have won three in a row and claimed their second straight series while becoming the first team this year to hand first-place Quad Cities a series loss.

The Cougars scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth and three more in the last of the ninth to end it. In the eighth they grabbed three unearned runs. Rashun Dixon singled home Leonardo Gil, Mike Gilmartin walked with the bases loaded and Max Stassi scored on a wild pitch. Then in the ninth, trailing, 6-4, Gil grounded out to score Tyreace House, Anthony Aliotti belted an RBI double and Stassi singled to right to score Aliotti and ignite the on-field celebration.

All four River Bandits hits left the ballpark. Starter Justin Marks allowed only two hits in 4 2/3 innings, but each hit was a two-run homer -- one in the first and one in the fourth. Connor Hoehn gave up one run on one hit -- a sixth-inning homer -- and Hector Garcia gave up one run on one hit -- a ninth-inning homer -- in 2 1/3 innings. Bo Schultz (2-0) picked up the win with 2/3 of an inning of relief in the ninth, and Aaron Terry (0-2) yielded three runs in the ninth for the loss.

The Cougars (10-10) and River Bandits (14-6) conclude the three-game series Thursday at noon before the Cougars start a seven-game road trip Friday night in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Thursday's game will be broadcast on WBIG 1280-AM and online at www.kccougars.com, with pregame coverage starting at 11:45 a.m.