Geneva, Illinois — Thirteen unanswered runs and a nine spot in the bottom of the fifth inning doomed the Lake Country DockHounds in a 13-8 loss to open the series against the Kane County Cougars.
Luke Hansel made his professional debut as Lake Country’s starting pitcher and began his night strong with a two-strikeout, 1-2-3 first inning. The DockHounds offense picked up Hansel by scoring four times in the second inning, the last two runs coming on Thomas Jones’ first hit of the season, a home run off the scoreboard.
Kane County had a quick response, capitalizing on two walks to score three runs. An error allowed the Cougars to tie the game in the third inning.
Scoring opportunities were halted for the DockHounds by good defensive plays, and then a nine-run rally by the Cougars was plenty for victory.
Lake Country did not go down without a fight, though, scoring in three of the final four frames.
John Swanda will take the ball for game two at Northwestern Medicine Field Saturday.
