Apollos, Monarchs Earn First Victories, Cougars Rally in Ninth
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. In today’s edition, Robert Pannier recaps and exciting Friday night in the American Association as the Houston Apollos and the Kansas City Monarchs both earned historic victories and the Kane County Cougars Rally to defeat Sioux Falls. Plus, they Winnipeg Goldeyes win in Jackson.
Six-Run Fifth Propels Monarchs to First Victory
It was an historic night for the Kansas City Monarchs, who earned their first victory since rebranding the team. That came courtesy of a six run fifth inning that saw the team hit two of their three home runs in the frame. Johnny Hatfield and Colin Willis each homered in the inning and Will Kengor added a third to propel the Monarchs to a 9-4 victory over the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks.
Brian Glowicki was solid in his first start of the season, allowing two runs in five innings while striking out seven. Kengor went 2-3 with two runs scored and two runs driven in. Leobaldo Piña had three hits and scored two runs for the RedHawks
Kansas City Monarchs Recap by Dan Vaughan
Walker, Scafariello Homers Lead Milkmen
Liam Scafariello erased a one run deficit with his first homerun of the season and reigning American Association MVP Adam Walker gave the Milwaukee Milkmen the lead with a two-run blast in the top of the seventh as the team went on to a 3-1 victory over the Sioux City Explorers. That made a winner of Ryan Zimmerman, who allowed one run on two hits in seven innings, striking out seven. Zach Hartman pitch the final two innings for his first save of the season.
Nick Belzer was sharp for Sioux City, striking out six and allowing no runs in five innings. The Explorers pitching staff struck out 13 in all. Sebastian Zawada hit his first homerun of the season for Sioux City.
Sioux City Explorers Recap by Connor Ryan
Cougars in Ninth to Down Canaries
The Kane County Cougars scored two runs in the top of the ninth inning to give them a 4-2 victory over the Sioux Falls Canaries on Friday evening. Josh Allen had the big blow of the game, a two-run homer that gave his team the victory. Allen finished 3-5 with a run scored and two RBI. The first five hitters in the Kane County batting order went a combined 10-24 with three runs scored and four runs driven in. Jake Cosart closed out the game for his first save of the season.
The late rally ruined a great night by Canaries starter Eddie Medina, who allowed two runs on six hits in six innings, striking out six. Tyler Michalczewski hit his first homerun of the season for Sioux Falls.
Sioux Falls Canaries Recap by Joey Zanaboni
Apollos Earn First American Association Victory
Nick Anderson homered and drove in three runs as the Houston Apollos rallied from a two-run deficit to defeat the Gary Southshore RailCats for their first victory since joining the American Association, 6-4. Anderson finished 2-4, scoring two runs and reached base three times. Ramon Villa was a perfect 3-3 with two runs scored for Houston. Ryan Richardson earned the victory with 4.2 outstanding innings, allowing no runs while striking out five.
Raymond Jones hit a two-run homer in the third that gave Gary a 3-2 lead. They would double the lead an inning later, but two runs in the fifth by Houston tied the score, before the Apollos added runs in the sixth and eighth to go onto the victory. The loss dropped the RailCats to 0-4.
Six-Run Fifth Propels Railroaders to Victory
The Cleburne Railroaders scored six runs in the bottom fifth inning to propel them to a 9-1 victory over the Lincoln Saltdogs on Friday evening. Noah Vaughan had the big blow of the frame, drilling a bases clearing triple to put his team on top. The Railroaders would put together seven hits in the frame, a franchise record for a single inning.
The top four hitters in the batting order went a combined 9-18 with five runs scored and six RBI for Cleburne. Ramon Hernandez hit his first homerun of the season for the Railroaders and Maverik Buffo tossed six shutout innings to earn his first victory of the season. Lincoln’s lone run came courtesy of an RBI ground out by Forrestt Allday.
Lincoln Saltdogs Recap by Michael Dixon
Cleburne Railroaders Recap by Denning Gerig
Error Gives Goldeyes Walk-Off Win in 10
A wild ninth-inning forced extra innings, where an error would allow the Winnipeg Goldeyes to earn the victory in their home opener, downing the Chicago Dogs, 5-4. Chicago trailed by two runs entering the ninth, but took the lead thanks to a three-run frame. Ryan Haug the scoring with an RBI single, as Chicago scored all three runs with two outs. However, the Goldeyes rallied for a run in the bottom half the inning to force extra innings, thanks to an RBI ground out off the bat of Logan Hill.
That set up the dramatic 10th. A single and a sacrifice put Kevin Lachance at second. Milton Ramos then hit a ground ball to short that was booted for an error, allowing Lachance to come around to score. Lachance had a huge evening, going 4-5 with a run in two RBI. Dan Kubiuk earned the victory with a scoreless inning of relief.
Chicago Dogs Recap by Jack Ankony
Winnipeg Goldeyes Recap by Jason Young
Three Stars of the Night
No. 3 – Josh Allen (Kane County Cougars) 3-5, R, HR, 2 RBI
No. 2 – Kevn Lachance (Winnipeg Goldeyes) 4-5, R, 2 RBI, Double
No. 1 – Ryan Richardson (Houston Apollos) 4.2 IP, 2 H, 0 BB, 0 ER, 5 K
Transactions
Cleburne: Signed RHP Cody White
Kane County: Signed RHP Andrew Stout
By Robert Pannier
