Railcats get themselves back to .500 hundred after a very quick lowing scoring game as they beat the Kane County Cougars 2-1 in the rubber match to win take the series. Here is how we got there and things I took away from yesterday’s game.
1st Inning – In the top of the second inning, the RailCats took a 1-0 lead. A little luck may have helped them score a run in the inning. After Nick Podkul struck out, Colin Summerhill grounded the ball to short and was safe, advancing on a throwing error by Sam Dexter. If it weren’t for the throwing error, Summerhill might have been out. It was such a close play that even though there was an error, Summerhill was still credited with a hit. This is where the luck came into play. On the first pitch to Jake Guenther, he checked his swing but made contact, and the ball flew over Claudio Finol’s head, allowing Summerhill to advance to third. Scout Knotts struck out, and Kevin Watson Jr. singled to center, allowing Summerhill to score.
2nd Inning – No runs were scored until the top of the 8th. With one out, Elvis Peralta singled and Camryn Williams hit a double to score Peralta from first. This gave the RailCats a 2-0 lead. It ended up being the game-winning hit and run.
3rd Inning – After Deyni Olivero threw 8 scoreless innings, Jacob Coats came in to try to pick up his 5th save of the season and secure the win. He got Armond Upshaw to strike out looking, Josh Allen doubled and advanced on a wild pitch two pitches later. Matt Bottcher hit a sac fly to left, allowing Josh Allen to score and make it a 2-1 game. Jacob Coats ended the game by getting Claudio Finol to strike out looking. This was the first time all year Jacob Coats had given up a run.
4th Inning – Deyni Olivero had one of his best starts, if not the best start of his career. He went 8 innings, gave up 6 hits, and recorded 2 strikeouts—that was it. I know he wanted to go all nine, but with how tight the game was, he was fatigued, and Jeff Isom made the correct decision to put Jacob Coats out there. Deyni has been on a tear lately. In his last 4 starts, he has gone 25 innings, allowed 20 hits, given up 4 runs (all earned), walked two, and struck out 13. Even though he hasn’t been a high-strikeout pitcher and has given up hits, he is allowing his team to play defense and keeping them engaged. In this game, he gave up 6 hits, but 3 of those turned into double plays.
5th Inning – This game only lasted 2 hours and 1 minute. I believe this was the fastest game the RailCats have played so far this year. Even though the game was quick and low-scoring, it was very entertaining.
6th Inning – I’ve been to Kane County twice, and it amazes me how the crowd talks about random things while the game goes on instead of talking about the game itself. When you are at the Steel Yard, fans are talking, but they are engaged with the game and discussing the players with little sidebar conversations. At Northwestern Medicine Field, it feels more like a place you go to catch up with friends rather than watch the game.
7th Inning – On Saturday, the Cougars used an alternative name, the Swedish Meatballs. Even though I am a RailCats fan, I like to visit opposing teams’ shops and get something. When I went two years ago, I got a Cougars hat that I have on display with the score of the game written on the underside of the brim. Yesterday, I had to get the Swedish Meatballs hat and a stuffed animal for Logan. Even though the Kane County shop is small, they have a good selection of memorabilia.
8th Inning – Kane County has one of the best MCs out there in Kaylay Kowalski. She has very high energy that gets the crowd going and entertains between each inning. I got to have a small interaction with her as she was sitting a couple of seats away waiting for the half-inning to end and heard me clapping after Elvis Peralta’s single in the 8th. She whipped her head around and said, “Why are you sitting over here? The visitors’ side is over there.” She wasn’t rude at all but was teasing me. She gave credit to the Steel Yard for the atmosphere and said Ben’s Pretzels and the pierogies were really good. It’s always nice having interactions like that at the ballpark.
9th Inning – There’s always something rewarding about going to another team’s ballpark and being one of a handful of fans rooting for the opposing team when your team wins the game. Even if I wasn’t screaming and yelling, just clapping obnoxiously loud still got the point across, and the looks you get are kind of funny. I definitely got those.
Extra Innings – We are 26 games into the season, and the RailCats are 13-13 and in a playoff spot, which is a great thing to see. I have been covering this team for five years, and by this time in previous seasons, the RailCats were far behind and basically done for the year. It’s nice to see the change, and hopefully they can break the playoff drought this season.
219 ‘Cats Player of the Game: Deyni Olivero – 8 IP, 6 hits, 0 runs, 2 strikeouts, and no walks.
219 'Cats 
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