Cougars on the brink of the playoffs

DAVENPORT, Iowa - The Kane County Cougars (76-57, 41-23) scored three runs in the final two innings to beat the Quad Cities River Bandits (77-53, 34-30) 3-2 on Tuesday night at Modern Woodmen Park. With a win Wednesday night at Wisconsin, the Cougars will clinch a playoff berth.

The River Bandits scratched across two runs in the fourth. Wilyer Abreu led off with a double. Austin Dennis reached on an error to put runners at first and third with no one out. Two batters later, Trey Dawson doubled home both runners to make it 2-0.

The Cougars were held scoreless for the first seven innings. In the eighth, Brandon Leyton was hit by a pitch and Keshawn Lynch walked with one out. Dominic Fletcher followed with a run-scoring double to cut the deficit to 2-1. In the ninth, Blaze Alexander began the inning with a single. Kristian Robinson doubled to tie the game, 2-2. Brandon Leyton provided the go-ahead single with two outs.

All three Cougar runs came against Valente Bellozo (0-1) who suffered the loss after four innings on the mound. Kenny Hernandez (7-3) pitched from the fifth inning until there were two outs in the ninth without allowing a run to earn the win. Kai-Wei Lin (6) recorded the final out, a strikeout, to seal the game and earn the save.