Monarchs Stalled by Milkmen, Drop Series Opener

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Kansas City, KS — The Monarchs returned home for the first time in 12 days and ran into a Milwaukee team who scored four runs in the first three frames to claim a 7-2 win over KC.

The Milkmen opened up this game with a tally in the first inning after Hallquist doubled and Marrero reached first via error. Justin Janas recorded his 14th RBI of the season on a liner to left field to bring in Hallquist.

Just an inning later, ilwaukee added a pair of runs and it was Hallquist at it again with an RBI to bring in Charlie Merion and himself into score. Hallquist scored via error from Sahid Valenzuela and it was a three-run advantage for the Milkmen. They added a tally in third frame on a sac fly from Yordyn Valdes.

The Monarchs found some life in the fourth inning as Saul Garza crushed a solo homer to left field. He now currently has 11 homers and is second in the league.

Ryan Garcia started the night on the bump, but it was Ryan Middendorf who had the best day out of the bullpen. He went 1.1 innings while throwing three K’s and no runs given up.

Milwaukee continued to add up runs with a tally in the fifth and two in the seventh on RBI’s from Valdes and Delvin Perez. KC tried to claw their way back into with a sac fly from Austin Callahan in the ninth, but would come up empty and lose their 13th game of the season.

Both these teams will duke it out tomorrow night as the Monarchs will look to even the series at one apiece. The first pitch is scheduled for 6:35 at Legends Field.

Monarchs Back in Win Column to Cap Off Road Trip

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Cleburne, TX — In the final outing of a nine-game road stand, Kansas City was able to take the last game of the series, 7-2, on Thursday night and finish out a long road trip.

Kansas City started the scoring in the first frame when Nick Martini delivered a solo homer to left field. The former San Diego Padre is now up to four home runs on the season despite joining the team at the start of the road trip.

It was a quick answer from the Railroaders as Mallex Smith opened the bottom half of the frame with a single. He would go on to steal three bases and would tie the game at one apiece. Caleb McNeely brought in the second run on a fly ball to center and Delino Deshields crossed home for the second and final railroader run.

Both these teams traded punches in the first inning and a half with the Monarchs shoving in two tallies in the top of the second. Sahid Valenzuela grabbed a base hit while Hudson Head sent a hard liner into right field to put two runners in scoring position. Brady Lindsly has had quite the series in the lone star state and continued t0 shine with a two-run RBI single to retake the lead.

 

As good as Lindsly has been this series, it was Head’s night and he showed why in fourth inning. Valenzuela started with a single and Head cranked a two-run shot to right field to give the Monarchs a three-run advantage. The San Antonio native finished the night going 3-4 with three runs and three RBI’s.

Dakota Hudson showed his stamina as he went seven innings on the bump with five hits given up and four strikeouts. It was another solid outing from the former Cardinal.

Saul Garza made his presence felt in the seventh frame with a solo homer. He now leads the team and is tied for third in the league with 10 jacks. Kansas City tacked on the final tally in the eighth when Head grounded out into an RBI and Austin Callahan scored.

All three texans contributed to six of the seven runs tonight for KC. The Monarchs finished the road trip going 4-5 with one series win in Sioux Falls. They hold a two game lead over the Canaries and will return home tomorrow night to start a six-game home stand. They welcome in the red hot Milwaukee Milkmen for a three-game set. First pitch is at 6:35 at Legends field.

Lindsly Homer Not Enough, Railroaders Edge Monarchs

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Cleburne, TX — It was another night of a Monarchs lead that was overcome by three unanswered runs from Cleburne to eventually suffer a 6-4 defeat on Wednesday evening.

The Railroaders jumped in front in the opening frame with a pair of runs. Two runners stood at the corners and Carlos Aldrete sent a sharp ground ball to left to bring in Mallex Smith. Just two pitches later, Frankie Tostado drove a sac fly which allowed Delino DeShields to be the second runner to cross home plate.

Just as we have seen so many times this season, the Monarchs had a quick response. In the top of the second, Austin Callahan kickstarted the inning with a base hit followed by a Hudson Head walk. With two outs, the Dallas native, Brady Lindsly connected on the 2-2 delivery and smoked a ball over the right field fence. Once again, another Texas product who has shined back in his home state.

Jimmy Endersby earned his third start on the bump and threw three punch outs, but conceded seven hits and four runs. He found himself in a jam in the third inning when Cleburne had the bases loaded with no outs. Cody Thomas grounded out into an RBI to bring in Aldrete and the Monarchs were fortunate only to allow one run to score in the frame. Once again, Cleburne delivered a run in the fourth on a Tostado RBI.

The door was open for KC in the eighth inning when the bases were loaded and only one out. Sahid Valenzuela lifted a sac fly to center and Martini tagged up to bring the score to a one run game at 5-4. Unfortunately the Monarchs were unable to squeeze more tallies out of the inning as they had six runners left on base throughout the game.

Cleburne added an insurance run in the bottom of the inning to seal the series.

With a Sioux Falls win tonight, the Monarchs (17-12) just stand 1.5 games in front of the Canaries for first place in the west division. Cleburne (13-17) is currently 5th in the east and is 9 GB of first place.

Kansas City will wrap their nine-game road stand with the final contest against Cleburne tomorrow night at 7:06

Monarchs Surrender Early Lead in Cleburne

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Cleburne, TX — The Monarchs took their first trip to Texas this season and after taking the lead in the third frame, they fell 4-3 to the Cleburne Railroaders on Tuesday night.

Kansas City threw the first punch when Josh Bissonette reached base on a fielders choice and Nick Martini doubled to right field. That brought in Saul Garza who continued an excellent road trip with a blooper into center field to bring in both runners. The Texas native was back in his home state and finished the night going 1-3 with a run and two RBI’s.

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The Railroaders grabbed a run back in the fifth frame as they started the inning hot with runners at the corners. Shortly after, Mallex smith stole third and Frankie Tostado ripped a line drive to bring in Smith. The score was cut in half at 2-1.

KC responded immediately in the top half of the sixth as Garza led off the inning reaching second via error. Later in the inning, Grant Richardson was thrown out at first to advance Garza. Austin Callahan did his job with a sac fly to center and Garza scored as he beat out the throw from left field.

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Austin Hansen earned the start on the mound and went six innings while giving up five hits and one run. He also threw four punch outs to go with it. Nate Webb and Tyler Myrick pitched in the final two innings for KC.

A 3-1 advantage was not enough for the Monarchs as Cleburne came storming back in the seventh frame. After Smith and Delino DeShields Jr walked, Tostado arrived on the scene once again with a liner to left field and both runners crossed home plate. Just like that, the game was notched up at three apiece. With two outs, Cody Thomas gave the Railroaders the lead when he drilled a ball to left and Tostado scored for the eventual winning run.

It will be a chance for the Monarchs to respond tomorrow night when they battle Cleburne for the second game of the series, first pitch is at 7:06.

Heid Signed to Mexican League

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Kansas City, KS — It was announced Monday morning that Monarchs right handed pitcher, Dylan Heid, was signed to Piratas de Campeche in the Mexican League.

During his time with the Monarchs, the Malvern, PA native pitched in 14 innings of work while surrendering 15 hits and nine runs, but threw 17 strikeouts. Heid appeared out of the bullpen seven times, but made two starts for a 5.14 ERA.

Manager Joe Calfapietra says, “I’m very happy for Dylan getting this opportunity and we wish nothing but the best for him in his new venture.”

Heid was  ranked third in the NCAA with a 1.37 ERA in his final year and was a second-team All-American at D2 Pittsburgh-Johnstown. He was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 2021 draft in the 11th round.

For the first time in his career, he will pitch outside of the United States and comes to Campeche with 99 games at the Minor League level. The right hander also appeared in seven games in Triple-A with the Norfolk Tides.

Joe talks about his excitement for players that move on from KC. “All of our players (that) have a chance to advance, we are very happy for them.”

The Monarchs organization wishes Dylan nothing but the best in his next stop to Mexico.

Monarchs Come Up Empty Despite Late-Inning Surge

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Sioux Falls, SD — After three record breaking games, the Monarchs looked human and fell to the Canaries 8-6 on Sunday afternoon.

Kansas City continued to produce a fast start when Marcus Smith walked and Nick Martini eventually was forced out at first. This allowed Smith to advance to third with Saul Garza up at the plate. Garza lifted a sac fly to center and Smith raced home to open the scoring.

Half of the runs in this game appeared in the first four frames. Sioux Falls posted a three run inning after TJ Rachenbaumer singled while Trevor Achenbach and Mason Minzey both walked. Rachenbaumer scored on a wild pitch and Anthony Hall laced a triple into center field to bring in the next two runners.

The Canaries carried the momentum in the next two frames with RBI singles from Achenbach and Joe Vos to jump up to a 5-1 advantage. In the fourth frame, Micheal Curialle homered with a solo shot to right field.

It was Dylan Heid who made his first start on the bump for KC. He threw four strikeouts, but gave up five hits and four runs. The most impressive pitcher out of the pen was newly signed Wyatt Wendell. The Denver native threw in three frames, surrendering only one hit, but dealt an impressive five punch outs.

This was a Monarchs team that was held scoreless for six consecutive innings before making their push in the final two frames. They started the eighth inning with three straight hits from Grant Richardson, Austin Callahan, and Sahid Valanzuela. The bases were juiced with no one out and Hudson Head appeared at the plate. The former Pirates product did his job with a sac fly to center and brought in Richardson. Shortly after, Alvaro Gonzalez drove a hard chopper up the middle to bring in a pair of runners. KC cut this to a 6-4 game headed into the bottom of the frame.

The Canaries cultivated a response by dropping a pair of runs in the inning and built a four run cushion headed into the ninth. Kansas City made one final push with back-to-back homers from Nick Martini and Saul Garza to bring it back to a two-run contest. Unfortunately the Sioux Falls closer, Spencer Bauer, recorded the final strikeout to seal a Canarie victory.

Despite the loss, the Monarchs (17-9) stay four games clear of Sioux Falls (14-14) and hold first place in the West division. They have the second best record in the league and will head south for the remainder of the road-trip. Kansas City will take the 12 hour bus ride to Cleburne, TX to collide with the Railroaders for a three-game set.

Kansas City Stays Red Hot, Thrashes Sioux Falls to Claim Series Victory

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Sioux Falls, SD — Can the Monarchs be stopped? For the third night in a row, Kansas City posted another double-digit run performance with a 19-3 victory. The Monarchs launched eight home runs in the win, tying the franchise record they set just two games ago.

This is the same team that ranked last in batting average through the first two and a half weeks of the season. Ever since a tough loss in the second game against Fargo, everything has changed. The Monarchs are now averaging 20 runs per game over their last three contests, and Saturday night was another remarkable offensive showing. Every player in Kansas City’s starting lineup recorded a hit for the third consecutive game.

The Monarchs wasted no time getting on the board, putting up six runs in the first inning. After Marcus Smith drew a walk, Nick Martini crushed a two-run homer 413 feet to right field. Just two pitches later, Saul Garza showed why he leads the team in home runs by blasting a solo shot to center field. Kansas City quickly built a 4-0 lead, and Brady Lindsly finished the inning with a two-run homer. The Monarchs hit three of their eight home runs in the opening frame alone.

Hudson Head added a solo homer in the third inning, and the hit parade continued an inning later. Grant Richardson went deep, while Head launched his second homer of the night. Both were two-run shots, extending the lead to 11-0.

As impressive as the offense was, the Monarchs also delivered a dominant performance on the mound. Ryan Garcia earned the start and turned in a stellar outing. The California native threw six scoreless innings and recorded an outstanding nine strikeouts.

The game moved into the sixth inning, and once again the Monarchs added four more runs. With runners on the corners, Alvaro Gonzalez reached on a fielder’s choice, allowing Sahid Valenzuela to score. Martini then blasted another two-run homer to right field. The former Chicago Cub joined Head with two home runs and four RBIs apiece on the night. Head has now hit three home runs during the road trip.

Kansas City added two runs in both the seventh and eighth innings. Austin Callahan capped the scoring with a two-run homer. The Monarchs led by as many as 19 runs before the Canaries scored three unanswered runs in the bottom of the eighth.

The Monarchs currently rank second in the league with 40 home runs and fifth in total hits with 252. They will have an opportunity to secure their second series sweep of the season when they take the field Sunday afternoon for a 4:05 p.m. first pitch at the Birdcage.

Smith Drives in Two Home Runs, Monarchs Fly Past Canaries

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Sioux Falls, SD — It was another phenomenal outing from Kansas City as they tallied 18 hits to command a 16-5 win in the first game of the series with the Canaries on Friday night.

Every player in the KC rotation earned a hit for the second night in a row while six of the nine batters had two or more knocks in the game. It was another incredible night at the dish for this red hot Monarchs team. After a team that was slow offensively to start the season, they have now combined for 41 runs on 44 hits in the past two games.

Although the Monarchs won by 11 runs, it was the Canaries that struck first in the third frame on a solo homer from Scott Combs to take an early 1-0 advantage.

Just a half inning later, KC got the bats started when Saul Garza was hit by a pitch and Grant Richardson singled into center field. Austin Callahan and Sahid Valenzuela both produced RBI singles to bring in a pair of runners. With only one out, Brady Lindsly roped a line drive into right field and Callahan crossed home plate. It was a three run inning and the Monarchs had their first lead of the night.

The Canaries would not go away and would tie up the contest in the fifth frame on RBI singles from Mason Minzey and Anthony Hall. Kansas City made their mark an inning later with four tallies after Josh Bissonette singled to bring in Valenzuela. Shortly after, Marcus Smith belted a three-run shot to right field to jump to a 7-3 lead.

Once again, the Canaries kept inching their way back with a tally in the sixth and seventh inning to cut it to a two-run game headed to the eighth inning. Thats when things got out of hand.

The frame opened up with Nick Martini getting on base followed by a Garza single. Richardson was at it once again with a liner to center field to bring in Martini. Later in the inning and with runners in scoring position, Sahid Valenzuela sent a ball to Trevor Achenbach at second base who made a costly error which allowed Garza and Richardson to score. This contest turned into an 11-5 game with the bases loaded and Smith up to bat. On the 2-1 offering, he smoked a grand slam to center field to cap off an eight-run inning as the Monarchs went up 10 runs.

It was the fourth grand slam by a Monarchs player this year, and the second in back-to-back games. Smith finished the night going 3-7 at the dish with seven RBI’s and continues to lead the team in batting average (.330). He ties with Richardson as the most RBI’s in a single game by a Monarchs player this season. Lindsly had one of his better days at the plate going 3-5 and drove in the final run of the evening in the ninth inning.

Kansas City has the opportunity to grab the series when these two teams go toe-to-toe at 5:35 tomorrow night.

Monarchs Shatter Three Franchise Records, Trounce RedHawks

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Fargo, ND — It was an historical afternoon in the final game of the series with Fargo as Kansas City put up a franchise record in hits (26) and runs (25) while breaking the league record in homers (8) to earn a commanding 25-9 win.

It was the most runs the Monarchs put up in a game since the Kansas City T-Bones drove in 24 runs in 2006. They broke the hit record from a week ago and the home run record, previous was seven. The Monarchs were one run shy of tying the league record set by Sioux Falls in 2008.

This offensive performance was so great from KC that not only did every player get two hits, seven batters had multi-hit games and five of those players had three or more knocks. Grant Richardson, Hudson Head, and Ryan Leitch each totaled four hits. It was so dominant that Richardson, Austin Callahan, and Josh Bissonette combined for 17 RBI’s including seven from Richardson alone. Grant finished the afternoon going 4-5 with five runs, three homers, and a grand slam to go with it. Just an unfathomable performance from the Indiana native.

After two rough offensive outings, the Monarchs showed why they can be the best offensive team in the league with an outstanding offensive output on Thursday. They opened up the game with three runs in the first frame as Nick Martini started the afternoon with a base hit. The newly acquired Monarch now has registered a hit in every game since putting on the uniform. Shortly after, Saul Garza doubled and Richardson walked to load the bases. Martini was the first of many runs to cross home plate and he did so on a passed ball. Austin Callahan was out via fielders choice and Richardson scored. Kansas City added another run on a Sahid Valenzuela RBI.

The Monarchs had total command of the contest in the first two innings with five more runs in the second frame. Marcus Smith started it off when he smacked a solo homer to right field. After two runners got on base, Callahan sent a deep shot to center for his second homer this series and did it in back-to-back games. Josh Bissonette drove an RBI single up the middle to bring in Ryan Leitch. It was already an 8-0 lead after two.

After another run in the fourth, Richardson and Callahan both belted solo homers on back-to-back at bats to take an overwhelming 11-0 lead in the top of the fifth. Fargo stormed from behind and put up seven unanswered tallies in the fifth and seventh inning to cut it to a four-run deficit.

This was an 11-7 game headed into the eighth inning. The Monarchs quickly put the Fargo momentum to rest with 14 runs in the final two innings highlighted by the Richardson grand slam in the eighth. Shortly after, Josh Bissonette recorded his first home run this season as Kansas City put up eight runs in the inning to deflate any chance the Redhawks had.

Just when you thought they were done, the Monarchs shoved in half a dozen runs in the ninth frame behind home runs from Richardson and Head. It was Hudson’s first of the season and it was a three-run bomb to right field.

This game had a combined 40 hits, but Kansas City could not miss even if they tried. They lost the series, but will take this record-breaking momentum into a three game set with Sioux Falls starting tomorrow. First pitch is at 7:05 at The Birdcage tomorrow night.

Monarchs Suffer Series Loss Despite Early Lead

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Fargo, ND — After six-straight series wins, the Monarchs finally dropped their second series of the season with a 12-5 defeat to the Redhawks on Tuesday night.

Although there was a rain delay which pushed back the start time, the Monarchs started fast in the first frame when leadoff hitter, Marcus Smith cracked a double to center field. Two batters later, Saul Garza brought home Smith when he spanked an RBI double to center and Kansas City had their first and only lead of the night.

In the bottom of the inning, two runners reached base and then Dillon Thomas was hot at the plate for the second-straight night. He ripped a ball to right field to bring in Jesus Lujano and Juan Fernandez. Two more runs got home later in the inning on a RBI single from Jairus Richards. The Monarchs quickly found themselves down three runs after the first inning.

Kansas City showed a ton of resilience in the next two frames with a pair of tallies in the second. They continued to swing the bat at a high clip offensively with three straight hits. Sahid Valenzuela, Hudson Head, and Brady Lindsly all grabbed a base hit to load the bases with no outs. Josh Bissonette and Nick Martini both sent a sac fly to the outfield to bring in Valenzuela and Head.

Four different pitchers touched the hill for the Monarchs tonight with Austin Hansen earning the start. Jay Groome returned to the mound for the first time since May 20th. The former first round pick pitched in two innings, gave up three runs, but threw three strikeouts.

After a four-hit night in the first game, Austin Callahan continued his outstanding play at the dish with a solo home run to tie up the game in the third inning. The Monarchs clawed their way back from an early three-run deficit, but Fargo put up a five-spot in the bottom of the the third to blow open the game. The first two batters of the inning walked and Jesus Lujano tripled to bring in both Richards and Brian Fuentes. Later in the frame, Fargo continued to muscle in runs when Thomas, Jose Sermo, and Tripp Clark all totaled an RBI single. It was a 9-4 advantage and it was a steep climb for Kansas City.

In the top of the fifth, Garza had a solid night at the plate with a triple into left center field which allowed Smith to score. He finished the night 2-4 with two RBI’s. Garza has continued to find his rhythm at the dish and is now second on the team in batting average (.276)

The Redhawks amassed two runs in the sixth and a tally in the seventh. The Monarchs found themselves down seven runs and could not string together a rally.

The Monarchs still hold a two game advantage over second place Sioux Falls and will have the opportunity to build on that lead with the final game of the series against Fargo at 12:30 tomorrow afternoon.