OCONOMOWOC, Wis. – The Lake Country DockHounds had their lead slip away late as they dropped the finale 8-6 to the Kane County Cougars Sunday in Wisconsin Brewing Company Park.
The DockHounds struggled this series closing games out. After holding multi-run leads every game, the Cougars rallied and took all three from Lake Country.
“We just haven’t executed,” DockHounds first baseman Ryan Hernandez said. “When it comes down to it, we are our own kryptonite. When we play well, we beat everyone. When we make mistakes, we lose. It’s pretty simple.”
After falling victim to a big run inning in the first two games, the DockHounds strung together one of their own. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Carson Maxwell led off with a double inside the third baseline. Soon after, Lake Country’s offense caught fire. The DockHounds strung together six consecutive hits en route to a four-run inning.
“This team can really, really, really be dangerous,” Hernandez said. “I think everyone knows that which is why everyone takes us and plays the game against us pretty cautiously. We just have to keep stringing things together and really trust each other and let it ride.”
With a perfect eighth inning from Eric Hanhold, the Cougars again strung together an ill-fated inning against Lake Country in the ninth.
“I don’t think we’ve run into a bad luck stretch, we just haven’t executed,” Hernandez said.
With this tough loss, the DockHounds look to regroup as they hit the road for a week-long road trip.
“Baseball is about having short-term memory,” Hernandez said. “You kind of have to find the positive in something and let it ride. Despite what happened, you’re going to be frustrated for a certain amount of time. We all are (frustrated), we’re baseball players, it’s part of our nature. But to be able to perform the next day, you have to be able to put things behind you.”
Lake Country will look to refind success as the DockHounds play the Lincoln Saltdogs at 11:05 a.m. Tuesday in Lincoln, Nebraska.
