By Cal Friedman

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Big acquisitions made huge plays as the Kansas City Monarchs completed an important comeback win on Friday night.

Isaiah Gilliam and Justin O’Conner delivered crucial RBI hits to spark the Monarchs in the middle innings as the Monarchs defeated the Lincoln Saltdogs, 5-2, at Legends Field.

Gilliam and O’Conner, both of whom joined the team in the last two weeks, combined for four RBIs in the victory. New relievers Junior Cerda (1-0) and Jeff Hakanson, who nailed the Saltdogs down in the late innings.

“That was a big win for us,” O’Conner said. “It’s good momentum, hopefully we keep it rolling.”

Lincoln grabbed a two-run cushion after the first inning. Spencer Henson recorded a first-inning double to score the first run. Dakota Conners added an RBI single in the second inning to make it 2-0.

Kansas City starter Jackson Goddard left the game with injury after two hitters, but left-hander Connor Curlis dazzled out of the bullpen from there. The southpaw kept Kansas City in the game with eight consecutive batters retired from the third to fifth innings.

Curlis posted 4.1 innings of one-run ball with three strikeouts.

Gilliam got it going for the Monarchs’ bats. The right fielder smoked a 109-mph fly ball off the right-field wall in the fifth, scoring two runners and tying the game.

Gilliam has posted RBI in five consecutive games and is on a seven-game hitting streak. He finished 1-for-3 in the win.

O’Conner recorded his biggest hit as a Monarch in the sixth. The third baseman drilled a two-run double up the first base line to score two, giving Kansas City a 4-2 lead.

“I was looking for something to move the runners over,” O’Conner said. “Just something to do a job, and I got it done.”

Abiatal Avelino added an RBI single in the next at-bat to score O’Conner. KC scored three runs on four hits in the inning.

The Monarchs’ bullpen was phenomenal in the win. Cerda earned the win, throwing a scoreless sixth and seventh in his Monarchs debut. Zack Leban worked a 1-2-3 eighth and Hakanson tossed a hitless ninth to earn his first save with Kansas City. 

Kansas City’s relievers combined for 8.2 innings with just one run against.

UP NEXT

The Monarchs continue their three-game series on Kansas Swiftie Monarchs Night on Saturday night. Right-hander Duncan Snider looks to keep it Clean for the Monarchs while left-hander Abdallah Aris tries to Shake It Off for Lincoln. The action begins with a 6:35 first pitch.

By Cal Friedman

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – The Kansas City Monarchs and Sioux City Explorers split a thrilling doubleheader Tuesday night at Legends Field.

Kansas City completed its fastest game of the season to breeze to a 7-0 win in the opener. The Monarchs poured 13 hits on RHP J.D. Scholten to even the four-game series. The Explorers bounced back in game two with an 8-7 victory.

The Monarchs’ (37-38) bats came to play in both games. The Monarchs scored four runs by the second inning in both contests.

Kansas City posted four home runs off Sioux City’s (35-40) pitching across the doubleheader. The Monarchs are up to 14 home runs in 13 games after the All-Star Break and 61 on the season.

GAME 1: 7-0, Kansas City

RHP Julian Garcia set the tone for Kansas City in Tuesday’s opening game.

The All-Star recorded six strikeouts his first time through the lineup card. Garcia struck out the side in the first inning to get it going for KC.

“That’s how the man pitches, he’s just pumping fastballs over the plate,” outfielder Isiah Gilliam said. “It makes our job a little simpler.”

Garcia retired as many as eight batters in a row. The 29-year-old faced the minimum in three different innings.

Kansas City exploded for an early four-spot in the second inning.

Herbert Iser connected on a Scholten offspeed pitch to deposit a towering home run to right field. The Monarchs catcher is up to five home runs this season.

“It gave us a burst of energy,” Gilliam said.

Lorenzo Cedrola added to the 1-0 advantage with a two-run triple to right-center field. The former Triple-A outfielder made it 3-0 Monarchs.

Gilliam took over from there, recording RBI singles in the second and fifth innings.

“I think that [performance] is our max potential,” Gilliam said. “I think we could’ve added a few more runs, but we got the job done.”

The Monarchs added one more run in the fifth on a Ross Adolph fielder’s choice. The seven runs was the most given up by Scholten all season.

Adolph finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored in the victory.

GAME 2: 8-7, Sioux City

Gilliam kept it going for KC in game two, but the Monarchs lost out in a thrilling affair.

The Monarchs’ right-fielder hammered a two-run home run to left-center field in the first inning. 

Gilliam lifted a fastball at 109 mph off the bat to make it 2-0.

Travis Swaggerty connected for a solo home run two pitches later. The Monarchs went back-to-back at Legends Field for the first time all season to make it 3-0 going into the second.

Swaggerty is up to seven home runs this season.

Overland Park, Kansas native Collin Wiles had a strong pitching debut. The former major leaguer gave up just one unearned run in the third inning and recorded two strikeouts in four innings.

The X’s bit back in the fifth to take a 6-5 lead. Sioux City scored five runs on five hits and three Monarchs errors. Ozzie Martinez tied the game with an RBI single and Zac Vooletich punched a single to left to give Sioux City the lead.

Hayden Jones came through clutch in the bottom of the fifth. The Monarchs catcher drilled a two-run single down the first-base line to give the Monarchs a 7-6 advantage.

Sioux City took the lead in the top of the sixth inning with two more runs. Martinez recorded a go-ahead RBI groundout to make it 8-7 Explorers.

Martinez finished 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs and a run scored.

UP NEXT

The Monarchs and Explorers finish their four-game set at 6:35 p.m. on Wednesday. LHP Matt Hall gets the ball for Kansas City against LHP Jaren Jackson for Sioux City.

By Cal Friedman

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – The Kansas City Monarchs put together a spirited rally that came up short at Legends Field.

The Monarchs trailed the Sioux City Explorers by as many as six runs on Monday night and rallied to force extras, but dropped an extra-inning thriller 18-8.

The Monarchs fell into a big pitfall early after a five-run third inning from Sioux City. Scott Ota hit a three-run home run highlight the inning.

Daniel Montano launched a solo shot two innings later to make it 6-0 Sioux City (34-39) in the fifth.

The Monarchs (36-37) rallied in the next two innings. Frankie Tostado and Isiah Gilliam kickstarted the comeback effort in the fifth inning.

Tostado knocked an RBI double to get Kansas City on the board. Gilliam drilled a hard ground ball back to left to make it 6-2. Gilliam finished 1-for-3 with three walks in the losing effort.

Carson Maxwell and Lorenzo Cedrola recorded RBIs in the sixth inning to cut the deficit to 6-4.

The X’s responded with two runs in the seventh to build their lead back to four.

Ross Adolph began an eighth-inning rally with a two-run single to center, then scored to cut the deficit to one on a ground ball from Tostado.

Adolph finished 3-for-5 with 2 RBIs.

Former Pittsburgh Pirate Travis Swaggerty forced extra innings with a game-tying single. Swaggerty drilled a base knock to score Gilliam to tie the game at 8.

Sioux City exploded in extras to score ten runs, including two home runs in the 10th to take the win. John Nogowski and Montano went yard in the inning. Montano finished the night with two home runs and five RBIs.

UP NEXT

The Monarchs and Explorers continue their four-game series with a doubleheader Tuesday afternoon. All-Star right-hander Julian Garcia starts game one off for the Monarchs at 5 p.m. at Legends Field. 

By Cal Friedman

LINCOLN, Neb. – The Kansas City Monarchs gave the Lincoln Saltdogs a taste of their own medicine.

Kansas City blasted four home runs to beat Lincoln, 6-3, at Haymarket Park on Saturday afternoon.

The win levels the series after Lincoln hit three home runs to win Friday’s game. Saturday’s win marked the first time since May 12th that the Monarchs had recorded four home runs.

Jackson Goddard commanded the mound in his five innings of work. The former Kansas Jayhawk struck out four and surrendered just two hits. Goddard (2-4) has given up just two runs over his last 15 innings.

The Monarchs began Saturday with three home runs on their first three hits. Isiah Gilliam teed off in the first inning with a 110-mph solo homer inside the right-field foul pole. The long ball marked Gilliam’s first hit with Kansas City (36-35).

Hayden Jones followed up a Lincoln sacrifice fly with a home run to give Kansas City a 2-1 advantage in the third. The blast to left field marked Jones’ seventh homer for the Monarchs.

Giambrone made Lincoln (28-46) pay one inning later. The KC second baseman blasted a home run to left field to make it 3-1 Monarchs.

The Monarchs got two crucial insurance runs in the eighth inning. A Lincoln error on a Gilliam pop fly allowed Ross Adolph to score from left field to restore KC’s two-run advantage.

Giambrone came through again four pitches later. The cleanup man dispatched an RBI single to the outfield grass to score Frankie Tostado, boosting the Monarchs’ lead to 5-3.

Lincoln would get a run back in the eighth off a Kyle Battle home run, but Kansas City responded one inning later. 

Josh Bissonette delivered his first home run of the season, clearing the left-center field wall to give Kansas City a 6-3 edge.

Bissonette has now recorded a hit in his last six games and has reached base safely in his last seven.

KC has now homered nine times since the All-Star Break.

A.J. Alexy (3) fanned two to earn his third save in nine days.

UP NEXT

The Monarchs and Saltdogs wrap up their series at Haymarket Park Sunday at 1:05 p.m.. RHP Duncan Snider gets the ball for Kansas City against Lincoln’s LHP Abdallah Aris.

By Cal Friedman

KANSAS CITY, KAN. – The Kansas City Monarchs have brought in a former first-round draft pick and collegiate standout reliever.

The Monarchs announced the signing of Justin O’Conner from Aguascalientes in Mexico and Jeff Hakanson from the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday afternoon. 

O’Conner will make his debut hitting fifth on Friday night at 7:05 p.m. against the Lincoln Saltdogs at Haymarket Park. Hakanson will be available out of the bullpen. 

O’Conner was headlined as a standout catcher coming up through the Indianapolis, Indiana area. He was drafted in the first round of the 2010 MLB Draft by the Rays.

The right-handed hitter cruised through the Rays’ MiLB farm, named as the No. 15 American League prospect in 2011.

O’Conner was named a Mid-Season All-Star with the High-A Charlotte Stone Crabs in 2014. He would progress to as high as Triple-A Durham in 2017.

The 32-year-old begins his second stint in the American Association. O’Conner recorded 17 home runs and 41 RBI in 82 appearances for the St. Paul Saints in the 2018 season.

He spent the last two seasons in the Atlantic League before 47 appearances in Mexico to begin the 2024 season.

Hakanson arrives in Kansas City after four years in the Rays’ minor league system. The Tampa, Florida native made 51 appearances for the Bowling Green Hot Rods and Charleston RiverDogs in the 2023 and 2024 seasons.

The right-hander compiled a 5.33 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 25.1 innings this season for High-A Bowling Green.

The Floridian was a phenom at the University of Central Florida in the 2019 and abbreviated 2020 seasons.

Hakanson was on pace to break the UCF strikeout per nine innings record as a sophomore in 2019. He posted a 17.55 K/9 over 26.2 innings of work. The reliever led the team with a 3.5 K:BB ratio, posting a 3.38 ERA in 22 appearances.

Hakanson began the pandemic-shortened 2020 season with six saves 8.1 scoreless innings and added 20 strikeouts.

The reliever also dominated the Expedition League with a 0.39 ERA and 10 saves in 2018.