SIOUX CITY, Iowa—On the eve of Independence Day, the Kane County Cougars (22–26) slugged their way to an 11–8 win over the Sioux City Explorers (31–19), salvaging the series finale with an offensive outburst. After crushing six home runs and slamming a slew of crooked numbers on the board, the Cougars overwhelmed Sioux City to avoid the sweep.
J.D. Scholten (0-1) entered the matchup with a 13.50 ERA at Lewis and Clark Park through just 2.2 innings of work, and his struggles continued. The top of the Cougars’ order rattled off a homer, a single and a homer against the 45-year-old, grabbing a 3-0 lead in a matter of moments.
Sioux City perked up in the bottom of the opening frame as Henry George singled, and starting pitcher Chris Mazza (3-5) plunked Zac Vooletich, positioning runners at first and second with one out for the red-hot Nick Shumpert. The San Jacinto product won the battle against the crafty righty, pulling an outside pitch through the left side, knocking in George for his team’s first run.
Scholten’s difficult start snowballed in the subsequent inning as he retired the initial two hitters of the stanza, but a two-out walk set the stage for Robby Martin Jr., who launched the 0-1 pitch over the left center field wall to extend Kane County’s commanding lead to 5–1.
Kane County added another run in the inning, posting up their second consecutive three-spot on the scoreboard. With the deficit mounting, the Explorers found themselves in a deep hole, searching for a way to climb out.
The 25-year-old right-hander Jeremy Goins took over for the elder statesman and ripped off a scoreless fourth, showcasing a sharp curveball that netted two swinging strikeouts. The Florida native did not carry his good fortune into the fifth as Kane County tacked on another.
After pushing a run across in the fourth inning, Sioux City plated two in the fifth via Shumpert’s triple and Josh Day’s sacrifice fly. The Explorers gave their momentum right back in the next half inning behind two solo roundtrippers from Marcus Chiu and Armond Upshaw. The Explorers scratched back with a run in the bottom of the frame, but still trailed 9–5.
Chiu struck again in the eighth inning, unloading his third home run of the night to cap off a monster performance, going 4-for-5 with three homers, a double, five RBI and four runs scored in a career night at the plate.
The Explorers brought some dramatics to the game in the eighth inning, racking up three runs, capped off by Austin Davis’s two-run big fly over the left field wall. Sioux City could not maintain the momentum into the final frame and saw its lead in the West Division shrink to a single game with Kansas City’s 6-5 win over the Gary SouthShore RailCats.
Sioux City begins a three-game series with the Gary SouthShore RailCats on Friday with its conclusion on Sunday. First pitch for Friday is at 7:05, Saturday at 6:05 and Sunday at 4:05 Ticket packages for the 2025 season are on sale now, including Full and Half-Season Tickets as well as 10-, 15-, and 25-game Flex Packs. For more information, please call the Explorers front office at 712-277-WINS. Stay tuned to the Explorers’ social media channels and the club’s website, xsbaseball.com, for all our news and updates.