MWL1 Kane County Cougars

September 1-6 Preview: Final Homestand of '10

Published on August 30, 2010 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Kane County Cougars News Release


Homestand Notes

Final Homestand of '10 Season: The Cougars conclude the home portion of the 2010 regular season with a six-game homestand that begins this Wednesday at Elfstrom Stadium.

The homestand includes some special savings for fans, as both Wednesday and Thursday's games feature KIDS FREE DEALS, with all kids ages 10 and under receiving a free box, reserved or lawn ticket. Those older than 10 still save with $3 tickets for each of those nights. Friday night's game begins three straight nights with post-game FIREWORKS SHOWS, including a special Sunday evening game as a prelude to Monday's matinee. AUTOGRAPH SESSIONS take place 30 minutes before Saturday, Sunday and Monday's games and the Cougars welcome a variety of in-game entertainers: DAVE THE HORN GUY on Friday, THE ZOOPERSTARS on Saturday and BIRDZERK on Sunday. Fans can RUN THE BASES after each of the six games this homestand.

Various media outlets have reported that Cubs pitcher Carlos Silva will make a rehab start for the Peoria Chiefs, the Cubs' Class-A affiliate, this Wednesday at Elfstrom Stadium against the Cougars. If that's the case, Silva will join a list that includes Aramis Ramirez, Reed Johnson and Scott Eyre as current or former Cubs to have made rehab stints at Elfstrom Stadium within the past several seasons.

Fans can order tickets at (630) 232-8811 or by visiting www.kccougars.com.

Star Wars Night this Friday: All Star Wars fans are encouraged to check out Elfstrom Stadium for this Friday's 7 p.m. "Star Wars Night" at the ballpark. Fans can wear their best Star Wars costume or apparel and take part in a pre-game parade on the field that evening. Between innings, various Star Wars-themed contests will take place and after the game, the Cougars will launch a fireworks show set to Star Wars music. The Cougars will welcome several members of the Midwest Garrison, part of the 501st Legion, who will be available for photos and autographs in their Star Wars movie costumes. Fan can call the Cougars for additional information or to order tickets at (630) 232-8811.

News and Notes

Playoff update: It will be a fight to the finish this week as just eight games remain and the Cougars are barely holding onto the wild card spot in the Western Division. Entering play on Monday, the Cougars hold a one-game advantage over the Beloit Snappers. Unfortunately, the Snappers hold the season's tiebreaker advantage over the Cougars with a better head-to-head record in 2010. Time will tell if that tiebreaker comes into play. Clinton has the lead for the division's top spot with a 1 ½ game advantage over Kane County, so the Cougars are within reach of surpassing Clinton. Essentially, Clinton, Kane County, Beloit, Peoria and Wisconsin are five teams fighting for two spots as the season winds down.

The Cougars are aiming for their sixth playoff appearance in eight seasons as an A's affiliate. For the two years that the Cougars did not reach the playoffs ('05 and '07), both of those conclusions were not reached until the season's final weekend.

Roster Moves: The Cougars lost a pair of pitchers to recent promotions. All-Star pitcher Ian Krol, along with A.J. Huttenlocker were sent to Class-A Advanced Stockton, while the Cougars activated pitcher Rob Gilliam from the disabled list and welcomed their first '10 draftee in pitcher Jose Macias.

Macias, a right hander, pitched in seven games for the Arizona A's rookie league team, going 3-0 with a 1.29 ERA. One of the country's strongest pitchers while a collegian at Franklin Pierce University, Macias finished second in the nation with a 0.87 earned-run average. He also ranked fourth in the country in strikeouts (118), fifth in hits allowed per nine innings (5.05) and 10th in strikeouts per nine innings (11.46).

Congrats to Conner: Cougars infielder Conner Crumbliss broke the franchise's single-season walks record on August 22 against Quad Cities. The record, previously held by former Cougar Tyrone Horne in 1997, was surpassed by Crumbliss, who has now drawn 116 walks entering play on Monday. Crumbliss' record is the first franchise single-season offensive record broken since former Cougar Jeff Baisley broke the RBI record with 110 in 2006.

Stable roster: Entering play on Monday, Cougars players Max Stassi, Conner Crumbliss, Rashun Dixon, Leonardo Gil, Anthony Aliotti, Mike Gilmartin and Tyreace House have all played in 100 or more games this season. With Myrio Richard (97 games played) likely to take that number of Cougars to eight, that total would be just one short of the franchise record, accomplished by the '93 Cougars, who had nine players appear in 100-plus games. That club included future major leaguers Charles Johnson, Edgar Renteria, Chris Clapinski and Mike Redmond.

Nieckula hits record: Cougars manager Aaron Nieckula became the Cougars all-time winningest manager on August 25, surpassing Lynn Jones (275, '94-'97) for most franchise wins by a Kane County skipper.

From the elephant's trunk: The Oakland A's enter play on Monday 7 ½ games behind the Rangers in the A.L. West...former Cougar Dallas Braden ('04) threw his fifth complete game of the season on Saturday night and is the first A's pitcher with two shutouts in a season since 2004 (Mark Mulder)...fellow starting pitcher Trevor Cahill ('07) continues to gain momentum as an A.L. Cy Young Award candidate. Cahill's line currently reads the following: 14-5 record, 2.43 ERA and a 0.92 ERA in five August starts. Cahill didn't make his first start of the season until April 30.

Cougars In The Community: Ozzie T. Cougar is scheduled to make upcoming appearances in the community at the following locations:

Sunday, September 5 from 9-10 a.m. - Multisport Madness ½ Marathon (Batavia)

Thursday, September 23 from 4:30-5:30 p.m. - Alden of Waterford Duck Race (Aurora)

Check out the Kane County Cougars Statistics

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Midwest League Stories from August 30, 2010


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