Late rally lifts Cougars

FORT WAYNE, Ind. — After a quality start from Tayler Scott, the Kane County Cougars broke a 2-2 tie in the eighth inning to snap a three-game losing streak with a 5-3 victory over the Fort Wayne TinCaps at Parkview Field on Saturday evening.

With the game tied at 2-2, the Cougars (8-11) loaded the bases with one out against TinCaps' reliever Erik Cabrera (0-3) after a single and a pair of walks. Cabrera would strike out Chadd Krist on a breaking ball, but the pitch got away from the catcher, allowing Gioskar Amaya to score the go-ahead run. With two outs, Bijan Rademacher and Wes Darvill each tacked on insurance runs with RBI singles to give the Cougars a 5-2 lead.

Brian Smith (1-1) relieved Cougars' starter Talyer Scott in the seventh inning after Scott's third quality start. Scott tossed 6 innings, allowed 7 hits, but just 2 first-inning runs while striking out three.

Smith allowed lead off doubles in the seventh and eighth innings to the TinCaps. In the seventh he stranded Luis Tejada at third. In the eighth, Maxx Tisenbaum scored on an RBI grounder from Dane Phillips who record two RBI tonight. Smith settled in after that however and retired the final five TinCaps he faced to earn the victory.

Justin Hancock tossed well for the TinCaps in his fourth start of the year. The righty allowed just two runs, one of which was earned, and surrendered just three hits while striking out three. Gioskar Amaya knocked in the first run against Hancock with a sac fly in the third. Amaya finished the game 1-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Willson Contreras grounded into an RBI fielder's choice in the fifth to tie the game 2-2 at the time.

The Cougars open a three-game series in Lake County on Sunday afternoon against the Captains at 3:00 p.m. central time. Righty Felix Pena will start for the Cougars. Fellow right-hander Luis Dejesus will be on the mound for the Captains. The Cougars return to Fifth Third Bank Ballpark on Wednesday, May 1, when they play the Bowling Green Hot Rods at 6:30 p.m. For tickets, please call (630) 232-8811 or visit www.kccougars.com.