By Carter Woodiel, Kansas City Monarchs

GARY, Ind. — When Chris Herrmann’s home run cleared the right-field seats and landed on the concourse at the Steel Yard in Gary, it helped jump-start a star-studded Kansas City Monarchs offense and power the club to its first win of the season.

After a difficult opening in Sioux City without a win over three games, the Monarchs (1-3) showed what they were made of Tuesday, knocking off the Gary SouthShore RailCats 10-4.

The game included two homers from Herrmann, a steal of home from Keon Broxton, and a sense of beginning in the Monarchs’ clubhouse.

“There’s a saying going around in the clubhouse: Every day is Opening Day,” Herrmann said. “New day, new opportunity. That’s the way we look at things.”

Herrmann hit two homers on the day, following up his two-run fourth-inning blast with a solo shot in the sixth. The Monarchs jumped out to a 10-1 lead in the series opener and never looked back.

“I think everyone saw that this is a glimpse of what we’re capable of as a team,” Monarchs third baseman Gavin Collins said. “I think our true colors are going to show up a bit more as we start getting into it here.”

Like many Monarchs, Collins had his best game of the year at the plate, going 4-for-4 including an RBI triple in the Monarchs’ three-run eighth. Eight of the nine Monarchs hitters reached base via a walk or a hit at least twice in the contest.

The Monarchs pitching staff also had a banner day, with four pitchers holding the RailCats (2-2) to one run over the first eight innings. Starter Cody Deason, whom the Monarchs signed earlier Tuesday, tossed three scoreless innings to set the tone.

Jordan Martinson earned the win for the Monarchs. He allowed a solo home run to Francisco Del Valle to begin his outing but settled in after that, allowing just the one run over three innings.

Grant Gavin and Beaux Bonvillain threw scoreless seventh and eighth innings, respectively. Patrick Weigel handled the ninth, allowing an RBI double to Emmanuel Tapia and a two-run home run to LG Castillo in his first action of the season.

By then, the Monarchs’ bats had provided plenty of support, including a bases-clearing triple from Shawnee, Kansas native LJ Hatch to make it 10-1.

“For us to come out as a team, to pitch well, to hit well, it was more fun,” Herrmann said. “It’s good that we came out today and showed people what type of team we are.”

UP NEXT

The Monarchs face off against the RailCats in game two of their midweek series Wednesday night at 6:45 p.m. Kansas City native Dalton Moats is set to start the game for the Monarchs against Gary Southshore’s Julio Vivas. Fans can catch the game on MonarchsBaseball.com/LIVE and AABaseball.TV.