The American Association South Division champions, the Kansas City Monarchs (61-30), stayed dominant against the Houston Apollos (15-75) in the first game of the final homestand of the regular season.
It was a quiet first three innings, but Darnell Sweeney fired up the offense in the bottom of the third with a solo home run to right field.
The Monarchs kept the energy up in the bottom of the fourth, starting with an RBI single by Kevin Santa to score Ibandel Isabel. Morgan McCullough followed, slamming a two-RBI double to left field, and Ryan Grotjohn added a sacrifice fly that scored Daniel Wasinger, putting the Monarchs over Houston 5-0.
Darnell Sweeney’s offense stayed hot in the bottom of the sixth as he hit into a fielder’s choice for another RBI to score Morgan McCullough, extending the Monarchs’ lead to 6-0.
Houston fired back with a three-run home run by Ian Yetsko, cutting into the Kansas City lead 6-3 off Jake Matthys. Matthys (8-3) got the win, scattering three hits and surrendering three earned runs. Jameson McGrane worked a scoreless ninth for his fifth save.
The Monarchs will continue their home stand against the Apollos Saturday night, with first pitch set for 7 p.m. and the gates opening at 5 p.m. at Legends Field. The game can be heard on the Monarchs Broadcast Network with the pre-game beginning at 6:30 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.
- Story by Emerson Peavey