Watson Impresses in Pro Debut, Monarchs Fall to Cougars

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GENEVA, Ill. – 22-year-old Michael Watson arrived in Illinois eight hours before his first professional start.

Watson flew in from South Carolina, then flew through the Kane County Cougars’ lineup.

The southpaw completed six innings with seven strikeouts in his AAPB debut, but Kane County defeated the Kansas City Monarchs, 4-0, from Northwestern Medicine Field.

The Glen Rose, Texas native arrived after throwing 15 consecutive scoreless innings in the Coastal Plain League.

The left-hander impressed early, recording four strikeouts in his first 2.2 professional innings.

Kane County (28-21) scored in the third inning on a Josh Allen single, the only run Watson would give up.

Watson (0-1) closed his first start by retiring ten batters in a row. Watson gave up just two hits in his debut.

The Monarchs (21-25) couldn’t get to Cougars starter Greg Mahle (3-0). The Kane County left-hander threw 6.1 scoreless innings, striking out six.

The Cougars recorded three straight run-scoring singles in the eighth inning to put the game out of reach. Kane County secured the regular season series against Kansas City, winning five of the nine meetings.

UP NEXT

The Monarchs return to Legends Field to take on the Gary SouthShore Railcats this weekend. Former Kansas Jayhawk Jackson Goddard starts for Kansas City on Friday, which features a postgame fireworks display. Tickets are available at tickets.monarchsbaseball.com.

Kansas City Monarchs Roster

Monarchs Announce LHP Watson for Professional Debut

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KANSAS CITY, Kan. – A new left-handed pitcher will make his Kansas City Monarchs debut on the Fourth of July.

The Monarchs announced the signing of southpaw Michael Watson on Thursday afternoon. The Glen Rose, Texas native joins Kansas City after graduating from Sam Houston State University in May.

Watson’s first American Association start is tonight against the Kane County Cougars in Geneva, Illinois. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

The left-hander wowed in his first season in division one, named to the All-Conference USA second team in 2024. 

Watson recorded 94 strikeouts for the Bearkats this spring, the most by a Sam Houston State pitcher since Hayden Wesnecki in 2019. He also maintained an opponent batting average of .204 during the 2024 regular season.

The Texan joined SHSU after three phenomenal seasons at Southwestern Assemblies of God University, where he dominated the NAIA. 

Watson was the first-ever SAGU Lion to be named NAIA First Team All-American in consecutive seasons in 2022 and 2023. He broke the school record with 140 strikeouts in 2022, holding a 2.99 ERA.

The southpaw dropped his ERA to 2.88 in his final season for the Lions.

Watson joins Kansas City from the Lexington County Blowfish in the Coastal Plain League. Watson is the second left-handed pitcher on the Monarchs’ roster, joining fellow starter Connor Curlis.

 

Tostado Rakes for Four Hits at Kane County

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GENEVA, Ill. – The American Association’s batting average leader returned with a bang on Tuesday night.
Frankie Tostado delivered a season-high four hits, but the Kansas City Monarchs fell, 4-3, against the Kane County Cougars at Northwestern Medicine Field.
Tostado drilled two doubles and a solo home run. The former Triple-A product is the second AAPB player to reach 20 doubles this season.
His second two-bagger made him the tying run in the ninth inning. The Monarchs left 10 runners on base in the defeat.
Kansas City, Missouri native Hunter McMahon made his first Monarchs start on Wednesday night. The right-hander dominated early, striking out three of the first four batters he faced.
Kane County (27-21) slugger Claudio Finol made the early difference, launching a solo home run in the second inning. The blast to left-center field was his second home run of the series, his fourth in five games.
Travis Swaggerty returned to the Monarchs’ (21-24) lineup with an RBI single to left field to score Josh Bissonette from second base.
Swaggerty finished 2-for-4 with a walk on Tuesday.
McMahon (0-1) kept it going with a scoreless fourth inning, but the Cougars tacked on three runs in the fifth.
The Staley HS graduate closed his first start for KC with a season-high four innings, tying his season-high with four strikeouts.
Danny Amaral and Tostado each collected an RBI in the latter half of the game.
Kansas City’s bullpen of J.C. Keys and Zack Leban recorded four scoreless innings to keep the Monarchs in it.
NEXT UP
The Monarchs close their season series with the Cougars tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. Greg Mahle will get the ball for Kane County. Kansas City’s starter is still to be announced.

Suozzi’s Big Night Leads Monarchs Past Kane County

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GENEVA, Ill. – Outfielder Joe Suozzi used time away from the diamond to talk to friends and family amidst a rough start.

Their advice? Be present. The outfielder presented his best baseball on Tuesday night.

Suozzi helped vault the Kansas City Monarchs back in the win column, driving in a season-high 5 RBI to defeat the Kane County Cougars, 10-4, at Northwestern Medicine Field. 

Suozzi finished a season-best 3-for-4 in the victory.

The Monarchs scored ten unanswered runs after a four-run Kane County (26-21) first inning. 

Kansas City (21-23) hammered a home run in the second to spark the comeback immediately. Suozzi launched a three-run home run to left-center field, making it 4-3 Cougars.

The blast was Suozzi’s first home run for the club.

“It felt really good, like a weight lifted off my shoulders,” Suozzi said. “I wasn’t panicking, I hadn’t played in a while.”

The former New York Mets prospect would polish the comeback win with a two-run single in the eighth inning.

The Monarchs used eight consecutive scoreless innings from their pitching staff to end a five-game losing streak.

“Tonight was big because it definitely uplifted our spirits,” Suozzi said. “We’re a good team. In baseball, you go through stretches where you don’t play well. Hopefully, tonight, we got out of it.”

Starting pitcher Julian Garcia bounced back from a rough first inning to record three scoreless frames. The right-hander struck out four batters in his second start of the season, surrendering just one earned run.

Another right-hander kept the strong pitching going for Kansas City. Nate Tellier (2-0) boosted his scoreless streak to 14.1 innings, hurling three scoreless innings.

The streak is the longest consecutive shutout period by a Monarchs pitcher this season.

Trent Giambrone recorded the game-winning hit for the Monarchs with a two-run home run to left field in the fourth. The former Chicago Cub finished 3-for-5 with 3 RBI, knocking an RBI double in the ninth.

KC scored four runs in the last two innings for insurance.

UP NEXT

The Monarchs start the second game of the series tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. with Hunter McMahon on the mound. The Kansas City, Missouri native will make his first start of the season. Nick Belzer will start for Kane County.