Kane County Cougars escape with narrow victory over Kansas City

In a tight ballgame, the Kane County Cougars held on for a 4-3 win over the Kansas City Monarchs on Wednesday night at Northwestern Medicine Field in Geneva.

The Cougars (27-21) took an early lead against Kansas City (21-24) starter Hunter McMahon (0-1) in the bottom of the second inning. With two outs in the inning, Claudio Finol launched a solo homer over the wall in left-center to give Kane County a 1-0 edge. It was Finol’s second straight game with a home run.

In the first three innings of the ballgame, Cougars starter Nick Belzer (5-3) worked in and out of trouble to keep Kansas City off the scoreboard. However, the Monarchs got on the board in the top of the fourth.

After a Josh Bissonette single and Joe Suozzi walk earlier in the inning, Travis Swaggerty knocked a two-out single to score Bissonette and tie the game at 1.

After Kansas City tied it, the Cougars took the lead back in the bottom of the fifth. Finol led off the inning with a single before coming in to score on a double down the line by Simon Reid. Then, Trendon Craig drew a walk to put two men aboard followed by a sacrifice bunt from Galli Cribbs Jr. to put two runners in scoring position. Following the bunt, Armond Upshaw brought home a pair of runs with a single through the middle to make it 4-1 Kane County.

The Monarchs drew closer in the top of the sixth. Danny Amaral pulled Kansas City within a run with an RBI single to make it 4-2. One inning later, Frankie Tostado belted a solo homer over the right-field fence to get Kansas City within a run.