by Gabriel Lopez, Monarchs
Casey Gillaspie was the hero for the KC Monarchs (35-18) Thursday night.
He delivered a walk-off base hit in the bottom of the ninth as Kansas City defeated the Lake Country DockHounds (19-35) 3-2 at Legends Field in Kansas City, Kansas.
After a short stint with the San Francisco Giants organization, the left-handed ace, Matt Hall, returned to the Kansas City Monarchs. He picked up where he left off, striking out Lamar Briggs and Gio Brusa in the top half of the first inning.
The Monarchs took an early lead in the bottom of the first. Darnell Sweeney led off the game with a solo shot to right field to give Kansas City an early 1-0 lead.
Hall started to find his groove in the second and third inning, striking out four DockHounds without allowing a run. After two innings of play, the Monarchs led 1-0 over the DockHounds.
The Monarchs extended their lead in the third inning. Chad De La Guerra reached base with a leadoff walk. Jan Hernandez stepped up to the plate and roped a double down the left field line. Adams brought in De La Guerra with a sacrifice fly to right field.
After three innings of baseball, the Monarchs led 2-0.
Hall had an incredible return to Kansas City. He finished his night throwing six scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing just one walk.
The DockHounds cut Kansas City’s lead in half as Tristen Carranza hit a solo shot over the home run patio in left field. After seven innings of play, the Monarchs led over the DockHounds 2-1.
Both teams were scoreless in the eighth. However, the DockHounds made some noise in the top of the ninth when Briggs singled to left field, scoring Efrain Contreras and tying the game 2-2.
Entering the bottom of the ninth, David Thompson hit a single up the middle.
Gillaspie stepped up to the plate and belted a line drive on a hit and run to score Thompson and win the game for the Monarchs in a walk off.
The Monarchs will continue their homestand against the DockHounds at 7 p.m. Friday in game two of the series. 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.