Explorers Win in 12, DockHounds Defeat Milkmen, Player, Pitcher of Month Named

Robert Pannier August 2, 2023

Photo Credit: Jennifer Andreachi/Field Dreams Photography

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, Rob Pannier recaps the six games in the American Association on Tuesday, including the Kane County Cougars holing off the Cleburne Railroaders, the Sioux Falls Canaries blank the Gary SouthShore RailCats, and the Sioux City Explorers when a thrilling contest in 12.

Game Recaps for Tuesday

Cougars Hold off Railroaders

The Kane County Cougars jumped out to a six-run lead, then held on to a 9-7 victory over the Cleburne Railroaders. Cornelius Randolph led the way in his return, recording three hits and driving in three. Armond Upshaw also drove in three in the game.

The Cougars scored a run in the second and added two in the third. Cleburne got on the board in the fifth, but a two run double by Upshaw and a two-run homer by Randolph extended the lead to six. The Railroaders refused to go away, scoring four runs in the top of the seventh, capped off by a two run double by Ryan Hernandez. However, the rally ended when Bret Boswell was thrown out at the plate. The Cougars added a run in the seventh and eighth innings to seal the victory.

Tyler Beardsley earned the win, allowing four runs in 6.1 innings. Kevin Hilton took the loss. Hernandez finished with three hits and four RBI for the Railroaders.

Boxscore

DockHounds Edge Milkmen

A four run fourth inning helped propel the Lake Country DockHounds to an 8-6 victory over the Milwaukee Milkmen. Lake Country hit four home runs in the contest as three players drove in a pair of runs. That made a winner of Connor Fisk. Jojanse Torres gave up two hits in the ninth but still closed out the game for his 10th save of the year.

Milwaukee jumped out in front in the top of the first as Gabriel Cancel hit his 12th homer of the year, a two-run shot. The DockHounds cut the deficit in half when Brian Rey hit a solo home run in the bottom half of the inning, his ninth of the year. Lake Country continued to roll, scoring at least one run in each of the first five innings. A balk in the second and a ground out in the third gave the DockHounds the lead. In the fourth, the club hit three home runs as Dustin Woodcock and Justin Lavey hit back-to-back solo home runs and Jaxx Groshans hit a two-run shot. Both teams scored a run in the fifth and Cam Redding hit a two-run homer in the sixth for Milwaukee, but the DockHounds bullpen tossed 3.1 innings of scoreless relief.

Rey and Marek Chlup each had three hits for the DockHounds. Roy Morales had four hits and Bryan Torres three for the Milkmen.

Boxscore

Miller, Canaries Blank RailCats

Seth Miller earned his first victory of the season, tossing seven shutout innings as the Sioux Falls Canaries blanked the Gary SouthShore RailCats, 11-0. Jabari Henry had a huge day, homering twice and driving in seven.

Sioux Falls took the lead in the top of the first on a two-run homer by Henry. In the fifth, Sioux Falls began to pull away, scoring three more runs when Henry hit his second homer of the day. An inning later, Jordan Barth added an RBI single and Henry followed with a two run double to extend the lead to eight. Sioux Falls finished with three more runs in the eighth.

Henry finished 3-5 with two runs scored and seven RBI and Ozzie Martinez had four hits and scored three runs. Wyatt Ulrich and Barth each had three hits and scored three times as well. Gary SouthShore produced five hits in all.

Gary SouthShore RailCats Recap by Zach Letson

Boxscore

Monarchs Crush Goldeyes

The Kansas City Monarchs scored nine unanswered runs to help lead them to a 14-2 victory over the Winnipeg Goldeyes. Jacob Robson was a perfect 5-5 with three RBI and Micker Adolfo had three hits, scored three runs, and drove in five.

Kansas City took command of this game right off, scoring five runs in the bottom of the first. Odubel Herrera led off with a solo home run, and Adolfo added a two run double and Robson followed with a two-run single. Chris Burgess hit a solo shot in the second, but Justin Wylie led off the bottom of the second with a solo home run and the Monarchs added two more runs on RBI singles by Adolfo and Robson. Kansas City put up a run in the third and fourth innings and added four more in the seventh, with Chris Herrmann and Adolfo each hitting a pair of two run homers.

Dalton Moats earned the victory, allowing a run in 6.0 innings. The top of the Kansas City order was a combined 6-15 with eight runs scored and five RBI. Andy Armstrong had two hits for the Goldeyes.

Winnipeg Goldeyes Recap by Doug Greenwald

Kansas City Monarchs Recap by Nolan Brooks

Boxscore

Zinn Gives Explorers Walk-Off Hit

Delvin Zinn delivered a walk-off single in the bottom of the 12th inning to give the Sioux City Explorers a 10-9 victory over the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks. Nate Gercken earned the victory and Daniel Perez had three hits and scored two runs for Sioux City. Each of the 3-8 hitters in the Fargo-Moorhead lineup had at least two hits and the group was a combined 13-30 with eight runs scored and seven RBI.

Sioux City took the lead in the bottom of the first, scoring three runs, but the RedHawks responded with two in the top half of the second. Sioux City put up two runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning, but Fargo-Moorhead rallied to score three in the top of the fourth to tie the score. In the ninth, Nick Novak delivered an RBI single, and it looked like the RedHawks would come away with a victory, but Matt Lloyd drove home Perez in the bottom half of the inning to force extra innings.

Neither team scored in the 10th, but Fargo-Moorhead put up two runs in the 11th only to see Sioux City responded with two in the bottom half of the inning. Once again, the RedHawks took the lead in the top of the 12th, but an RBI single by Vince Fernandez tied the score and Zinn delivered the game-winner.

Sioux City Explorers Recap by Austin Thomas

Boxscore

Dogs Defeat Saltdogs

The Chicago Dogs defeated the Lincoln Saltdogs in their series opener, 6-3. Trevor Lane gave up three runs in the first inning but was spectacular from there, earning his fourth victory of the season. Brian Schlitter came on in the ninth to record his 13th save of the year.

Chicago put up four in the top of the first as Ryan Lidge delivered a two-run single and Dylan Rosa drove home two with a triple. The Saltdogs responded right away with Luke Roskam hitting a two-run homer in the bottom half of the first and Yanio Perez hitting a solo shot. In the fifth, Chicago put up two more runs on RBI doubles by Matt Bottcher and Luke Mangieri.

Lincoln Saltdogs Recap by Michael Dixon

Boxscore

Three Stars of the Night

No. 3 – Micker Adolfo (Kansas City Monarchs) 3-5, 3 R, 5 RBI, HR, Double

No. 2 – Seth Miller (Sioux Falls Canaries) 7.0 IP, 4 H, 3 BB, 0 ER, 3 K

No. 1 – Jabari Henry (Sioux Falls Canaries) 3-5, 2 R, 2 HR, Double, 7 RBI

American Association Daily Notes

This Week in the Association and the Minor League Sports Report named their Player and Pitcher of the Month on Tuesday. It was a clean sweep for the Milwaukee Milkmen as Bryan Torres was named as the Player of the Month and Kyle Mora was named as the top pitcher… Lincoln Saltdogs catcher Luke Roskam extended his consecutive on-base streak to 36 great games when he hit his 12th home run of the year.