Modesto forces a Game 5; Kane County falls in 5

The Modesto A's used a huge offensive night to force a decisive Game 5 in their championship series. Kane County, however, was unable to win their Game 5, leaving them just short of the championship. Find out the details in this edition of Minor League Notebook...

Modesto A’s

After losing a tough 10th inning decision to the Lancaster JetHawks on Saturday, the Modesto A’s battled back on Sunday, scoring 12 runs and forcing a decisive fifth game for the championship. The A’s jumped out to an early 10-1 lead and then held on to win the game 12-8. Jason Perry highlighted the offensive explosion with two homeruns.

Jeff Muessing picked up the win for the Lil’A’s despite giving up four runs in only 5.1 innings of work. The A’s chased Lancaster’s starter Peter Zamora after only 2.2 innings of work. Every A’s starter had at least one hit. Perry led the way with a 5-6 night with those aforementioned two homeruns and four RBIs. He is hitting a blistering .425 during the playoffs. California League MVP Brain Stavisky went 2-4. raising his playoff batting average to an astonishing .514. The A’s offensive explosion came despite losing DH John Suomi, who was one of the A’s best hitters all season, to a knee injury during Saturday night’s 10-inning loss. The series has see-sawed back and forth since the start, as the two teams have traded wins. It will all come down to the final game on Monday night. The game will be in Lancaster at 6:30 pm PST.


Kane County Cougars

After staving off elimination with a gut-wrenching 7-5, 16-inning victory, the Kane County Cougars succumbed to the West Michigan Whitecaps in the decisive fifth game of the championship series. The Cougars ended a stellar season – a season that saw them win both halves of the regular division championship -- two runs shy of a Midwest League championship. The Cougars fell 4-2 in the Game 5.

The Cougars played a sloppy defensive game and it hurt them early. In the bottom of the third inning, West Michigan scored an unearned run to break the scoreless tie. The defensive miseries continued for Kane County in the bottom of the fourth inning when two more errors led to two more unearned runs for West Michigan.

The Cougars fought back in the top of the fifth inning, when Nick Rogers singled home David Castillo for Kane County’s first run of the game. The score remained 3-1 until West Michigan tacked on another run in the bottom of the sixth inning, raising the score to 4-1.

The Cougars had runners at first and second and none out in the top of the seventh, but Brian Ingram struck out and Eddie Kim and Luke Appert flied out to end the threat. Danny Putnam doubled with one out in the top of the eighth, but the Cougars left him stranded, as well. The Cougars finally broke through in the top of the ninth, as they loaded the bases with no-outs. Eddie Kim drove in the Cougars second run with a sacrifice fly to center and it appeared that Kane County might have a little more magic in the tank. However, Appert fouled out and Vasili Spanos popped out to second, ending the Cougars season.

Trent Peterson picked up the tough-luck loss, despite allowing zero earned runs in five innings.