Kane County Cougars rack up 15 hits in lopsided triumph

The Kane County Cougars clinched a series victory with a dominant 12-1 win over the Kansas City Monarchs on Thursday night at Northwestern Medicine Field.

Kane County (22-15) racked up 15 hits and benefited from a great effort by starter Tommy Sommer (2-0), who tossed seven shutout innings.

The Cougars (22-15) got on the scoreboard early against Kansas City (19-17) starter Grant Gavin (3-2). With one out Claudio Finol ripped a double down the left-field line. Two batters later, Jared Cushing drove in Finol with a double of his own into center field to make it 1-0.

Kane County broke the game wide open in the bottom of the third with a 6-run inning. To start the inning, Armond Upshaw was hit by a pitch before Josh Allen and Cornelius Randolph drew back-to-back walks to load the bases. Todd Lott then poked a single through the middle to score Upshaw and Allen and make it 3-0.

After Lott’s hit, Finol and Simon Reid knocked back-to-back singles that each scored a run to make it 5-0. Later on, a wild pitch scored Finol to make it 6-0. Galli Cribbs Jr. capped the scoring in the inning with a bloop single to make it a 7-0 edge.

The Cougars continued to pour it on in the fourth and fifth innings. In the fourth, Lott drove in another run with an RBI fielder’s choice. Then, Reid knocked in his second run of the ballgame with a double to make it 9-0. In the fifth, Upshaw led off the inning with an infield single.

Two batters later, Randolph crushed a 2-run homer over the right field fence to make it 11-0. Randolph finished the night 3-for-3 with 2 RBI and a pair of walks.