By WJBC Staff
PEORIA – The Peoria Chiefs got a three-run homer in the first inning and solid pitching from three hurlers to beat the Kane County Cougars 5-3 Thursday night in the opener of the second half. The win moves the Chiefs to 1-0 this half and 34-35 overall with three games left against Kane County over the weekend at Dozer Park.
The Chiefs got on the board first in the first inning against Cougars starter Wei-Chieh Huang. Darren Seferina led off with a single on the first pitch from Huang, stole second, moved to third on a fly out and scored when Danny Diekroeger lined a single to center to give the Chiefs the 1-0 lead. Diekroeger advanced to second on a single by Alex DeLeon and both scored when Nick Thompson drilled a home run to right for the 4-0 lead. The homer was Thompson’s team-leading seventh on the season and second in his last five games.
The Chiefs added to their lead in the second inning. Jhohan Acevedo reached on an error in his first Chiefs at-bat and went to third when Seferina singled. Acevedo scored on a wild pitch with Sohn batting to make it 5-0.
The Cougars got on the board in the third against Chiefs starter Jack Flaherty. Cody Regis led off with a double to right and went to third on a single by former Chief Ildemaro Vargas. Regis scored on a single by Colin Bray to make it 5-1.
Kane County scored again in the fourth. Joe Munoz led off with a double and went to third on a single by Henry Castillo. Munoz scored on a groundout by Regis to cut the Chiefs lead to 5-2.
The Cougars plated another run in the top of the sixth. Chuck Taylor led off with a walk and Flaherty gave way to reliever Blake McKnight. Taylor advanced to second on a groundout by Henry Castillo and went to third on a single by Victor Reyes. Taylor scored to make it 5-3 on a throwing error by Chiefs catcher Steve Bean when Reyes stole second.
Flaherty (3-1) won his third straight start, going five innings and allowing three runs, two earned, on seven hits and two walks, striking out three. McKnight went three shutout innings out of the bullpen, allowing one hit and striking out two. Kyle Grana worked a scoreless ninth inning for his eighth save of the season, allowing one hit and striking out two.
