Cougars Rally as Playoff Chase Is Down to Final Day
September 2, 2012 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Kane County Cougars News Release
GENEVA, Ill.-Trailing 3-0 early, the Kane County Cougars never had the lead until a walk-off hit in the bottom of the 10th carried them to a 5-4 edging of the Peoria Chiefs on Sunday night at Fifth Third Bank Ballpark.
With the score tied at 4-4 in the bottom of the 10th, Danny Mateo sparked the Cougars (68-71, 34-35) by singling before advancing to second on a knock from Dean Espy. After Austin Reed (5-8) struck out Julio Aparicio looking, Alex Llanos cracked a base hit with an inside-out swing down the right field to score Mateo with the game-winner.
Peoria (62-75, 27-41) carried the initial lead as they scored a pair of unearned runs in the top of the first against Kyle Smith. Smith walked Zeke DeVoss to begin the contest while a Justin Trapp error put the first two men on base for the Chiefs. Dustin Geiger's sac fly scored DeVoss while Pin-Chieh Chen crossed the dish after a single from Rogers.
Peoria added a run in the fourth, but the Cougars evened the score in the bottom of the fifth. Llanos tripled off starter Starling Peralta and scored on a wild pitch. Chris Elder did the same thing to pull the Cougars within one while Tim Ferguson doubled and scored on a Trapp groundout. Jorge Soler put the Chiefs back on top with a long homer to left in the eighth, but Espy tied the game with a run-scoring single in the bottom of the eighth to draw home Jack Lopez. Andrew Triggs worked 3.2 innings out of the Cougars' bullpen to carry the game to extra innings before Andrew Stueve (2-2) pitched the 10th.
The Cougars are at Fifth Third Bank Ballpark on Monday when they host the Chiefs (Single-A Chicago Cubs) at 1:00 p.m. in the regular season finale. For tickets, please call (630) 232-8811 or visit www.kccougars.com. You can listen to the broadcast on www.kccougars.com, beginning with Cougars on Deck at 12:45 p.m. Right-hander Mike Giovenco (5-2) will start for the Cougars against fellow righty Ben Wells (3-2). If the Cougars advance to the postseason, they would open the first round of the Midwest League Playoffs on Wednesday against the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers at 6:30 p.m. from Fifth Third Bank Ballpark.
12:45 PM (CT) Pre-Game Show, 1:00 First Pitch on WBIG 1280-AM & kccougars.com
Midwest League Stories from September 2, 2012
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