Geneva, Ill. — Beau Philip picked his first save with the Lake Country DockHounds by recording the final 10 outs to drop Lake Country’s magic number to two with a 2-1 win over the Kane County Cougars.
Dominic Cancellieri turned in his third strong start in a row. He completed 5.2 innings with five strikeouts while allowing only one run. With the tying run on, manager Ken Huckaby made the call the bullpen in the sixth inning for Philip. It would be the only time “Huck” went to the pen Wednesday. Philip finished the game retiring 10 of the 12 batters he faced and never dealt with a Cougar in scoring position. His save is the second of his career, while the 3.1 innings is his longest professional outing.
A run in the first inning and sixth frame were enough to hold off Kane Couty to even the series. Ray Zuberer III was hit by a pitch to open the game and scored after stealing second on Brian O’Keefe’s double.
Then with two outs, Ryan Hernandez singled to right field and advanced on an error into scoring position. Brian Rey was intentionally walked before Aaron Hill singled to load the bases for Freddy Rojas Jr. On a full count pitch, “Freddy Ro” took high for ball four and to give Lake Country the edge. Rojas reached three times on the night.
With the Milwaukee Milkmen also losing Lake Country can clinch its postseason berth Thursday night against the Cougars. The DockHounds will need to win with another Milkmen loss to make the Miles Wolff Cup Playoffs. If the bid is not secured Thursday, a win in any of the three games this weekend at Wisconsin Brewing Company Park over the Milkmen will send the DockHounds to the postseason.
Kelvan Pilot will get the start Thursday at 6:30, and always, you can watch DockHounds baseball for free on aabaseball.tv.
