SIOUX CITY EXPLORERS PRESS RELEASE
Phone: 817.739.3693
Website: xsbaseball.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 12, 2025
By John Colavita
X’S COME UP ONE RUN SHORT AT CHICAGO
TEAM RECORDS SEASON HIGH SEVEN HITS
ROSEMONT, Ill –The Sioux City Explorers’ (2-2) offense struggled, but the Chicago Dogs’ new acquisition of Jacob Teter, the reigning Most Valuable Player and batting champion in the American Association, paid huge dividends in the series opener. Chicago held off a late comeback from the Explorers to claim a 3-2 victory.
Third-year Explorer Jared Wetherbee was the next man up in the rotation and immediately ran into trouble. Chicago loaded the bases in the bottom of the first inning. The lefty from Elon University escaped the jam, stranding five runners on base over the first two frames.
The game’s first run came with two outs in the bottom of the third inning. Dusty Stroup doubled to center with two outs, and the next batter, Alex McGarry, smashed a single to center to give the Dogs a 1-0 lead.
The X’s immediately threatened the following inning. Sioux City loaded the bases with two outs, and Josh Day came to the dish with a chance to give his team its first lead of the series.
Day found a barrel but could not find a hole as he lined out to second base, ending the threat and allowing the Dogs to breathe again.
Chicago’s offense continued to cook in the bottom half of the fourth inning. Eight-hole hitter Henry Kusiak led off the inning with a single, and two outs later, fresh off a stint in the Mexican League, stepped Jacob Teter.
Teter, who hit .349 with 28 home runs a year ago, smacked a 0-1 pitch to left center for a wall-scraping home run. His blast gave Chicago a 3-0 lead, which didn’t stay that way long.
In the next half inning, Austin Davis walked, and Luis Toribio singled to right, setting up a first, third, and one out opportunity for Kurtis Byrne. The former TCU Horned Frog sent one out to left that was plenty deep enough for the speedy Davis to score, and the X’s were finally on the board.
Abdiel Layer was the next batter, but he popped out to end the inning. The game stayed 3-1.
That was the last inning for Chicago starter John Baker (1-0), who outlasted Wetherbee, who was pulled after just 4.2 innings. That marked the first time all season that the X’s starter didn’t finish with a quality start.
Will Kincanon took over for Baker and surged through a perfect sixth inning, striking out Emilio Corona and Henry George in the process. But in the seventh, Kincanon hit D’Shawn Knowles and walked Austin Davis, forcing Chicago manager Matt Passerelle to make another pitching change and bring in lefty Zach Davidson.
The first batter he faced was Luis Toribio, who singled home Knowles, cutting Chicago’s lead to 3-2. That put runners at first and third with just one out for Kurtis Byrne, who grounded into a 4-3 inning-ending double play, stranding the tying run at third.
Despite trailing, Jaren Jackson and Felix Cepeda held down the fort for the X’s, allowing just one hit in their combined 3.1 innings of relief, but the offense never came through.
The Explorers immediately put the tying run on base in the ninth inning as Henry George walked. Dario Gomez pinch-hit for Josh Day and laid down a gorgeous sacrifice bunt to advance the tying run into scoring position.
D’Shawn Knowles struck out on a pitch in the dirt for the second out. Torin Montgomery came to the plate as the final hope for Sioux City, pinch-hitting for Austin Davis.
Behind in the count 1-2, Montgomery took a fastball for strike three on the outside corner, allowing Chicago to win the series opener.
Despite logging seven hits, a 2025 season-high for X’s, it wasn’t enough to take down the Chicago Dogs. The silver lining is that they have three more chances to pick up a victory on the road. The Explorers will send out RHP Joey Murray while Chicago has yet to name a starter. The game will be joined in progress on KSCJ and will stream on video at game time on aabaseball.tv.
The Explorers continue their 4-game series tomorrow at 10:30 a.m., staying on the road facing the Chicago Dogs. Following the road trip, the club will come home to celebrate opening night at Lewis and Clark Park Friday night, May 16 at 7:05 p.m., against the Kansas City Monarchs. 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. More information is available by calling 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.
TUNE INTO ALL THE EXPLORERS ACTION ON KSCJ AND AABASEBALL.TV