Willis Homers Twice in Monarchs Victory, Dogs Even Series
American Association Daily provides insights, features, and recaps of the action from around the American Association of Professional Baseball League, as well as player and coaching profiles and transactions. Robert Pannier recaps the two games on night No. 2 of the divisional finals as Colin Willis homers twice to lead the Kansas City Monarchs two and 11-6 victory, and the Chicago Dogs even their series with the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks with a 7-1 win. This and much more.
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Kipper Dominates as Dogs Even Series
Jordan Kipper allowed a run in the first inning, then tossed six scoreless frames to lead the Chicago Dogs to a 7-1 victory over the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks. Dylan Kelly delivered a two-out single to drive home Manuel Boscan, but the Chicago right-hander was in complete control after that, at one point recording six consecutive outs by strikeout.
Meanwhile, the Dogs offense scored runs in five consecutive innings. Starting in the bottom of the fourth, T.J. Bennett turned on the first pitch he saw, drilling it over the right field wall for his first homerun of the playoffs. An error in the fifth gave Chicago the lead, and the Dogs extended that lead to three thanks to a K.C. Hobson two run blast in the bottom of the sixth. Chicago scored two more in the bottom of the seventh on back-to-back doubles by Brendan Metzger and Michael Crouse and Ryan Haug closed out the scoring with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth. Metzger finished with three hits and Bennett and Haug each scored two runs in the contest.
Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks Recap by Chad Ekren
Willis Homers Twice to Lead Monarchs
Colin Willis homered twice and drove in six as the Kansas City Monarchs downed the Sioux City Explorers, 11-6. After Sioux City tied the score in the top of the second inning, Willis put his team on top for good, connecting on a two-run home run to give Kansas City a 3-1 lead. Gabriel Guerrero extended the lead to four when Blake Tiberi misplayed his fly ball to right field, dropping in for a single, allowing two runners to score.
Sioux City battled back with three runs in the top of the fifth. L.T. Tolbert doubled home a run to cut the deficit to three, and Nick Franklin followed with a two-run blast, putting Sioux City behind by just a single run.
However, Willis put this game out of reach, drilling a grand slam in the bottom of the sixth inning to put the Monarchs up by five. Each team added a single run late in the contest. Willis finished with two hits and six runs driven in. Guerrero was a perfect 4-4 with a run and three RBI.
Sioux City Explorers Recap by Connor Ryan
Kansas City Monarchs Recap by Jack Johnson
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Three Stars of the Night
No. 3 – Gabriel Guerrero (Kansas City Monarchs) 4-4, R, 3 RBI
No. 2 – Colin Willis (Kansas City Monarchs) 2-4, 2 R, 2 HR, 6 RBI
No. 1 – Jordan Kipper (Chicago Dogs) 7.0 IP, 9 H, 0 BB, ER, 7 K
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American Association Daily Notes
With their 7-1 victory on Saturday, the Chicago Dogs earned the first playoff win in franchise history… Kansas City Monarchs outfielder Gabriel Guerrero has eight hits in his first nine at-bats in the South Division Final series. Guerrero went 4-5 in the opening contest and was a perfect 4-4 on Saturday…The divisional series will continue on Monday with Chicago heading to North Dakota to take on Fargo. That series is tied at one. The Sioux City Explorers look to stay alive when they host Kansas City on Monday. The Explorers trail, 0-2… Saturday’s contest between Sioux City and Kansas City lasted 4:19, the longest nine inning playoff game in American Association history…The Monarchs have six home runs through the first two games of the series. The American Association record for homeruns in a series is nine, set by the Winnipeg Goldeyes in 2017.
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By Robert Pannier
