Kane County collects 24 hits in 19-15 win over Leñadores de Las Tunas

In another high-scoring affair in Mexico City, the Kane County Cougars outlasted the Leñadores de Las Tunas of Cuba 19-15 to advance to the Baseball Champions League Americas 2025 semifinals.

The victory completed a perfect 2-0 run through Group B of the BCL in the round-robin portion of the tournament.

After a 16-14 win on Tuesday, Thursday’s game featured even more offense. The two teams combined for 34 runs and 42 hits. Shed Long Jr. led the way for the Cougars (2-0), finishing the day 4-for-6 with a home run, double and 5 RBI. Dayson Croes came through with a 4-hit ballgame after his 6-for-6 performance in the BCL opener. In total, six players collected at least 3 hits for Kane County.

The Cougars jumped out to a big lead in the bottom of the second. Facing Las Tunas (1-1) starter Albert Vallardes, Brantley Bell started the rally with a single through the left side before Josh Allen worked a walk. After a fielder’s choice put runners at the corners, Armond Upshaw hit a hard groundball that was mishandled to bring home Allen and make it 1-0. Following Upshaw, Long crushed a mammoth, 3-run homer to right field to make it 4-0. Long’s home run traveled an astounding 471 feet.

Later in the second, the Cougars struck via the long ball again. Following a Max Murphy single, Dillon Thomas belted a 2-run shot to right field to make it a 6-0 lead. Allen capped the scoring in the inning with a 2-run bloop double off Keniel Ferraz to give Kane County an 8-run advantage.

The Cougars next take the field Saturday in a BCL semifinal matchup. Live coverage will air on Ryz Network, the Unbeaten Channel, Fubo Sports Network and AABaseball.TV. Following the BCL Americas, the Cougars will open American Association play on May 8 at Northwestern Medicine Field in Geneva.