by Gabriel Lopez, Kansas City Monarchs

Kansas City, Kan. — A six-run second inning for the Kane County Cougars (35-35) propelled them to an 11-7 victory over the Kansas City Monarchs (45-24). The Monarchs finished the night with seven runs but also left 13 runners on base. Kansas City also outhit the Cougars, tallying 15 hits to Kane County’s 11.

The Cougars scored right away. After a double from Josh Rolette, Cornelius Randolph belted a two-run bomb to center field to give them an early 2-0 lead in the first inning.

Kane County didn’t stop there as they extended their lead in the second. With the bases loaded, Ernie De La Trinidad hit an RBI-single to right field. A few batters later, Randolph roped a two-RBI double. Jimmy Kerrigan stepped up to the plate and hammered a three-run home run to center field to give the Cougars an 8-0 lead over the Monarchs.

Kane County tacked on one more run in the third inning as Galli Cribbs Jr notched an RBI-triple to make the score 9-0.

The Monarchs finally got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third inning. Darnell Sweeney led off the inning with a walk. A couple batters later, Matt Adams hit a soft bloop single over third baseman Dylan Busby to bring in Sweeney. After three innings of play, the Monarchs trailed 1-9.

Kansas City scored in the middle innings. David Thompson hammered a solo shot over the home run patio in the bottom of the fifth. The next inning, Kevin Santa hit an RBI-single up the middle to score Alexis Olmeda. After six innings, the Monarchs trailed 3-9.

Kansas City started to make some noise in the seventh inning. Adams led off the inning with a single to left field. After J.C. Escarra notched a hit down the left field line, Chad De La Guerra worked a walk to load the bases. With two outs and two strikes, Willie Abreu hit a screaming line drive down the left field line to score Adams and Escarra. After seven innings, the Monarchs trailed by four runs.

The Cougars scored two more runs in the ninth and the Monarchs trailed 11-5 heading to the bottom half.

Kansas City clawed back in the bottom of the ninth. Abreu brought in Escarra with an RBI-double. Sweeney followed up Abreu’s at-bat with a sacrifice fly to right field. However, the Monarchs couldn’t bring any more runs across the plate as the Cougars won 11-7.

The Monarchs will continue their homestand with game two against the Kane County Cougars tomorrow night (8/3) at 7:00 p.m. The game can be heard on the Monarchs Broadcast Network with the pre-game beginning at 6:30 p.m. and the video stream airing on aabaseball.tv.

Tickets to all Monarchs games can be purchased by calling 913-328-5618 or by visiting monarchsbaseball.com. For additional information or interview requests, members of the media may contact the Monarchs Media Relations Department at (817) 739-3693. Stay tuned to monarchsbaseball.com. and the Monarchs Facebook and Twitter pages for updates throughout the season.

WP: Fuentes (5-2)
LP: Hartman (4-4)
S: N/A

Boxscore

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