Monarchs Fall to Railroaders in Extras

Cleburne, TX — In a tight-knit game, the Monarchs and the Railroaders went toe-to-toe on Monday night, but it was the Railroaders who came out on top with a 7-6 win.

The Railroaders wasted no time getting on the board at home when they put up a two-run first frame. Caleb McNeely became the first runner to reach base after he was walked and then Frankie Tostado singled to put the runners at the corners. After a wild pitch thrown by Monarchs starter, Darren McCaughan, McNeely raced home to put Cleburne in front. Later in the inning, Cole Foster grabbed a base hit on a blooper to left field to send home Tostado.

KC illustrated an immediate response in the top of the second as Trevor Boone and Saul Garza both grabbed their first knock of the night. Hudson Head added his 11th double this season when he smacked a liner into right field to send home Boone. The Monarchs quickly cut the lead in half.

McCaughan got the start on the bump for Kansas City and gave up nine hits to go with three runs in 5.2 innings of work. He was able to locate the zone with four punch outs on his third start in a Monarchs uniform. Jacob Gomez came on the mound in the sixth inning and threw two K’s with only one hit, it was another solid outing for the New Jersey native.

After two stolen bases, McNeely scored via error from Ryan Leitch in the fourth frame. It was a 3-1 advantage for Cleburne, but this game was far from over.

With two outs on the board in the fifth inning, JD Davis connected on the first pitch and cranked a solo homer to bring it back to a one-run game. The Monarchs tied it up in the sixth frame when Boone did what he knows best. He read the 0-1 pitch to perfection and belted the game-tying home run. The Tulsa, OK native now has four homers in his last four outings and 14 in total.

Kansas City took the first lead of the game in the seventh when Davis and Sahid Valenzuela both led off the inning with a single. With runners at first and second, Austin Callahan reached first via error from pitcher, Michael Reed and Davis crossed home plate.

This was a back-and-forth game as Cleburne grabbed the tying run in the eighth frame. Mason Minzey tripled and then scored on a passed ball from Tyler Myrick to notch the game at four apiece.

The game moved into extras and with already a runner on second, Callahan came through with a massive two-run blast into right field to give the Monarchs their largest lead of the night.

Unfortunately, Cleburne muscled in three tallies after a Delino Deshields walkoff hit to seal the win. Both these teams will be back at it again tomorrow night with a 7:06 first pitch. Kansas City will throw southpaw, Austin Krob while Cleburne will put former Monarch, Dakota Chalmers on the bump in what should be an action-packed Tuesday night.