Dominant Pitching Leads Cougars Past Canaries
May 15, 2024 - American Association (AA)
Kane County Cougars News Release
GENEVA, Ill. - Thanks to great pitching and timely offense, the Kane County Cougars claimed a 4-2 victory over the Sioux Falls Canaries on Wednesday afternoon at Northwestern Medicine Field. The win gives Kane County (4-1) a second straight series victory to open the 2024 season.
For a second straight game, Sioux Falls (3-2) jumped out to an early lead. In the top of the second, Mike Hart and Josh Rehwaldt both launched solo homers off Cougars' starter Alex Troop (2-0) to give the Canaries a 2-0 lead.
The Cougars struck back immediately in the bottom of the second against Sioux Falls starter Tanner Brown (1-1). Josh Allen led off the frame with a walk before reaching third on an opposite-field double by Je'Von Ward. After Ward's double, Harrison Smith plated Allen with a single to right-center to pull Kane County within a run. Two batters later, Armond Upshaw blooped a single to right to score Ward and tie the game at two.
One inning later, the Cougars took the lead. Allen led off the inning with a single before stealing second. Following Allen's steal, Ward brought him home with a single back through the middle to make it 3-2 Kane County.
Once the Cougars had the lead, the pitching took over. Troop racked up six strikeouts with no walks across five innings on his way to earning his second win of the season. In relief of Troop, AJ Jones tossed two perfect innings of relief in the sixth and seventh. Following Jones, left-hander Garrett Williams pitched a perfect eighth inning with a strikeout.
Kane County added another insurance run in the seventh on a double play groundout by Ward to make it 4-2. In the ninth, closer Ryan Nutof entered for the Cougars looking to close the door. The South Elgin native allowed one single, but ultimately struck out Rehwaldt to end the ballgame and earn his second save of the season. On the day, Cougar pitching combined for eight strikeouts with no walks and sprinkled two runs on six hits. From the fifth through the ninth innings, Troop, Jones, Williams, and Nutof combined to retire 13 straight Sioux Falls hitters.
The Cougars conclude the series with the Canaries tomorrow night at Northwestern Medicine Field. Right-hander Seth Miller (0-0, 0.00) takes the mound for Sioux Falls against fellow righty Westin Muir (1-0, 0.00) for the Cougars. Kane County will be home through May 19 th , with promotions including a Thirsty Thursday presented by Miller Lite on tomorrow night and post-game fireworks on Friday, May 17 th . For tickets and more information call 630-232-8811 or visit kccougars.com/tickets.
American Association Stories from May 15, 2024
- RedHawks Rained out Wednesday - Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks
- Series Finale in Fargo Rained Out - Kansas City Monarchs
- RedHawks-Monarchs Series Finale Postponed - Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks
- Dominant Pitching Leads Cougars Past Canaries - Kane County Cougars
- Hadt, Rehwaldt Homer in Wednesday Setback - Sioux Falls Canaries
- Monarchs Partner with Security Bank of Kansas City - Kansas City Monarchs
- DockHounds Secure First Win of the Season - Lake Country DockHounds
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
