Viza goes the distance, Cougars shut out RedHawks

Tyler Viza (3-0) threw a complete game shutout against the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks (32-26) Tuesday night at Northwestern Medicine Field in Geneva. The 2-0 winner was the Kane County Cougars' (28-29) fourth shutout of 2021.

Viza set the tone with a perfect first inning, but Fargo-Moorhead put runners on in the next three frames. Each time, Viza ended the inning with a strikeout. The Cougars right-hander faced just two batters over the minimum through the first six innings.

Offensively, the Cougars also had a difficult time figuring out RedHawk starter Bret Helton (4-6). The Cougars stranded four runners through the first six innings until they finally scored on Helton in the 7th. Gavin LaValley and Josh Rolette connected on back-to-back doubles for the first run of the ballgame. Three batters later, Anfernee Seymour singled home Rolette for a 2-0 Cougars' lead.

Two runs ended up being plenty for Viza, as he became the first pitcher to even enter the 9th inning after starting a game. The 9th had some drama to it, as Correlle Prime led off with a single. After Viza got Manuel Boscan to fly out, and struck out Leo Pina, Jordan George bounced a grounder to LaValley at third. LaValley's momentum took him into foul territory, and Kacy Clemens scooped his throw out of the dirt just in time to put away George to end the game.

Viza also matched a season-high with 11 strikeouts and threw the Cougars' first complete game shutout since Jayson McKinley on July 26th, 2018.