Monarchs Cruise to Victory, Take 2-1 Series Lead

Kansas City, KS — This was the best Monarchs performance on both sides side of the plate in this series as they cruised to a 7-3 win over the Redhawks and are now one win away from the championship series.

Just as they have done the entire series, the Monarchs drew first blood. In the first frame with two down, Luken Baker and Grant Richardson both walked to bring in Saul Garza. The former Royals prospect saw the full count pitch and cranked a three-run shot into left center to give KC an early advantage. It was his 20th homer this season and his biggest up until this point.

The Redhawks would not lie down so easily. After Brian Fuentes collected a base-hit in the second, Jesus Lujano smoked a two-run bomb to right field and the deficit was cut to one. It quickly became 3-2.

This did not phase the Monarchs by any means as they answered back with a tally in the fourth. Sahid Valenzuela led off with a double after outfielder, Dillon Thomas, lost the fly ball in the lights and Valenzuela was able to scoot over to second. He got to third and was brought home on a JD Davis RBI grounder.

Jimmy Endersby stepped on the mound for the 19th time this season and his second in the playoffs. He shoved in eight K’s in seven frames and only surrendered the homer from Lujano. Once again, he provided a terrific command on the bump and allowed the offense to flouish. Jack Walker and Durbin Feltman finished out the night on the mound.

KC continued to stack runs as they added another one in the fifth. On the first pitch of the inning, Tyler Gentry hooked an opposite field shot and now has four homers in the postseason. He leads the playoffs in hits (10), RBI’s (9), and Hr’s (4).

In the sixth, Garza led off with an extra base-hit and later in the frame, Davis brought home on a slapped ball into left center. It was a 6-2 advantage and the Monarchs had their largest lead of the series.

Just when you thought they were done scoring, the Monarchs added another tally for the fourth-consecutive inning. Richardson walked and then made his way to third which paved the way for Onix Vega to drive a ball up the middle while they scored the seventh and final run. Vega has come alive in the back of the season and mentioned, “It feels good, I didn’t play for a long time. I got here, had some at-bats and started really cold. Then I started getting better at-bats and better swings. Now i’m ready to go.”

Fargo finished out the night with a solo homer from Tucupita Marcano in the eighth, but it was too little too late.

With this win, the Monarchs now have an opportunity to clinch their spot in the championship series with a victory tomorrow night. They will look to take this series with a 6:35 first pitch at Legends Field on Friday night.