by Adam Cook, Monarchs
While not as big of a boom as Sunday night’s ending, Jan Hernandez once again brought late fireworks over the Fourth of July weekend as his late-game heroics propelled the Monarchs (31-16) to a win Monday night in Cleburne Texas.
The Monarchs defeated the Cleburne Railroaders (15-32) in game one of the away series. The match was a back-and-forth dogfight all the way through, with only one inning with no runs scored, but Kansas City came out on top late, 10-9.
The Monarchs struck early in this holiday showdown as Darnell Sweeney led off the game with a walk from Cleburne starter Garrett Alexander; then he reached second base three pitches later on a fly ball to left field off the bat of Kevin Santa to put a Monarch in scoring position in the first.
Third baseman David Thompson then capitalized on Sweeney’s efforts with an RBI double, giving the Monarchs an early lead.
Gaby Guerrero then stepped in and smacked an RBI single, scoring Thompson and setting the score at 2-0 Monarchs before the turn of the inning.
In the bottom half, Monarchs starting pitcher Akeem Bostick allowed the first two Cleburne batters to reach base, but he then retired the next three without allowing a run, capping the inning off with a four-pitch strikeout.
The Monarchs stayed on Alexander in the second, as shortstop Pete Kozma led the inning with a double before moving to third base, thanks to a single from the next batter in the order, Chad De La Guerra.
Sweeney continued his hot streak when he came to the plate and hit a two-RBI double, scoring both Kozma and De La Guerra. The next batter in the order, Santa, hit a single to fleft that allowed Sweeney time to round the bases and make it home, bringing the score to 5-0 in the second inning.
In the home half, the Railroaders began to head down the right track. Bostick allowed a single to each of the first three batters, loading the bases for Nick Shumpert, who promptly became the fourth batter to hit a grand slam off a Monarchs pitcher this season, cutting the Kansas City lead to one. Bostick then struck out two of the next four batters, retiring three of them and escaping the inning without more damage.
In the third, back-to-back one-out walks from Casey Gillaspie and Kozma and a single from De La Guerra loaded the bases for Kansas City, but then back-to-back punchouts left them that way.
In the bottom half, back-to-back singles put runners at the corners for Cleburne. Hunter Wolfe then bounced into a double play but Hill Alexander scored from third, tying the game at five.
The fourth also proved eventful, as the Monarchs’ half yielded an RBI double from Guerrero that scored Santa, giving KC the lead once again, 6-5.
In the bottom half, an unorthodox triple to center field from Edwin Arroyo put him in scoring position, and he scored two pitches later on a wild pitch, tying the game once more. Later in the inning, a walk and a stolen base from Zach Nehrir put him in scoring position at second base, and Kacy Clemens capitalized with an RBI single, giving Cleburne its first lead of the game, 7-6.
The Monarchs didn’t allow the lead to change for long, however, as De La Guerra led the top half of the fifth off with a solo home run to knot the score at seven.
In the bottom half, Bostick called it a night as Justin Donatella entered at the beginning of the half inning and recorded the first 1-2-3 inning of the contest, to be followed by six more straight outs in the sixth.
In the top half of the seventh, a Kozma walk broke the streak of 1-2-3 innings, but the Monarchs were unable to cash in.
For the Railroaders, a trio of singles scored Clemens and gave the Railroaders an 8-7 lead.
In the eighth, the Monarchs got two on the bases but Cleburne reliever Austin Fairchild kept them stranded, holding the one-run Railroaders’ lead as the teams headed to the bottom of the eighth.
Offensively, the Railroaders’ Arroyo drew a leadoff walk, and then stole both second and third. This allowed Chase Simpson’s single to score Arroyo, giving Cleburne an insurance run late, as the Railroaders now held a two-run 9-7 lead.
To begin the ninth inning, Railroaders’ closer Nick Gardewine entered and walked the first two batters he faced, giving Kansas City the go-ahead run at the plate with no outs. After a flyout and a pinch hit strikeout, Sweeney was hit by a pitch, loading the bases for Santa with two away. Santa drew a 3-2 walk to score one.
Hernandez came to the plate, just a day after his electrifying walkoff grand slam. As the night before, Hernandez drew the count to 3-2 with two outs and the bases loaded. Hernandez, the last chance for the Monarchs, delivered.
He hit a two-RBI single that gave the Monarchs a 10-9 lead heading to the bottom of the ninth.
In the bottom half, Jameson McGrane came on to slam the door, and after a Hunter Wolfe single, he was helped out by a great play at the warning track by left fielder Sweeney to save extra bases and a run. Hernandez caught the final out in center field, sealing the win for the Monarchs in the ninth.
The Monarchs take on the Railroaders again at 7:06 p.m. Tuesday, July 5, for game two of the series. The game can be heard on the Monarchs Broadcast Network with the pre-game beginning at 6:36 p.m. and the video stream airing on aabaseball.tv.
Tickets to Monarchs games can be purchased by calling 913-328-5618 or by visiting monarchsbaseball.com.