Cougars Late Comeback Stopped Short in Fort Wayne Opener
July 23, 2017 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Kane County Cougars News Release
FORT WAYNE, Ind. --- Sparking a near comeback in the late innings, the Kane County Cougars (14-15, 53-43) came up just short- by a 3-2 score- at the hands of a red-hot Fort Wayne TinCaps (19-10, 45-54) ball club. Shutout for most of the contest, the Cougars scored two and had the game-tying run on the eighth, but the offense stalled from there in this series opener.
With Midwest League All-Star, righty Sam McWilliams (9-4) on the mound, the TinCaps struck first with an eventful first inning. Snapping a streak of over 14 innings without a walk issued, McWilliams doled one out to Fernando Tatis Jr. to start off his outing. McWilliams also walked Nate Easley the next plate appearance. And with two on, Jorge Ona's single drove in Tatis as the TinCaps went up 1-0.
It was the first run allowed by McWilliams of any kind since July 2nd against Peoria. The run surrendered snapped a streak of 16.1 innings pitched in which McWilliams had not allowed a single run, spanning three starts.
In the fourth, the TinCaps made it 2-0, but it could have been more, as the Cougars defense shined. After a leadoff double by Brad Zunica, catcher B.J. Lopez tossed out Zunica on a fielder's choice throw at third. Two batters later, Chicagoland native Jack Suwinski doubled putting two in scoring position. Tyler Benson then swatted a base hit into right scoring a run, but Ben DeLuzio's strong throw home retired a sliding Suwinski, keeping the Cougars' deficit at two.
The Cougars had a difficult time with Fort Wayne's starter, winning righty Mason Thompson (2-4). In a career outing, the 19-year old tossed five innings on just one hit (to Anfernee Grier in the first), with three strikeouts and as many walks.
In more offensive support, the TinCaps pulled to a 3-0 lead after the seventh inning. With righty Wei-Chieh Huang (1-1) in the game, Suwinski pulled a home run to deep right field for a solo shot.
It wasn't until the away half of the eighth in which the Cougars offense came to life. With three straight hits, Paxton De La Garza doubled, B.J. Lopez singled, and Ben DeLuzio doubled home a run to put two in scoring position. Seth Spivey added an RBI groundout, as the Cougars made it a 3-2 TinCaps lead.
But in the ninth, the Cougars went down 1-2-3 as the right Hansel Rodriguez (5) earned the save. Despite notching five innings on just two runs, McWilliams suffered the loss. The Cougars next play on Sunday at 12:05 P.M. with an 11:50 A.M. radio pre-game show on AM 1280 WBIG and kccougars.com. On the mound for the Cougars, left-hander Mack Lemieux (5-3) takes on the TinCaps' right-hander Ronald Bolanos (3-1).
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