Dunston leads Cougars charge into Finals

Shawon Dunston wanted to do whatever he could to get his team the "W" in the opening of the Midwest League Championship Series. And that's exactly what he did.

The Cubs left-field prospect was at the center of the action with three hits, two runs, an RBI and two stolen bases to help the Class A Kane County Cougars top the Lake County Captains, 4-3, in Game 1 of the best-of-5 Finals on Wednesday.

"I felt confident going into this game. I think after the last two games, I came in with a different mind-set and try to put the ball in play and wreak havoc, and good things happened with me and the team," the 21-year-old said. "I'm just trying to have good at-bats for this team, do anything possible to help this team win. My goal right now is to help this team win the Midwest League title."

After going 0-for-8 over the past two games and with Kane County down, 1-0, after back-to-back doubles by Cleveland prospects Bradley Zimmer and Nellie Rodriguez, Dunston singled to lead off the bottom of the first inning and then crossed the plate on a homer by Mark Zagunis.

The Captains retook the lead on an RBI double by Claudio Bautista in the second, and the California native tied the game again with a single to center that drove in Trey Martin. Dunston promptly stole second, moved to third on a fielding error by pitcher Mitch Brown, then scored on a fielding error by third baseman Paul Hendrix to give the Cougars a 4-3 lead.

"That's my game -- I [have] to steal bases. … I gotta wreak havoc and my teammates can drive me in," the 2011 Draft pick said. "It's the playoffs. The team that minimizes mistakes comes out on top, and today, we minimized more than Lake County did."

Dunston singled and stole second again in the seventh for his fourth multi-theft game of the year. The left-handed hitter ended the regular season ranked third on his team with 27 swipes, 20 of them in the second half.

 "I've gotten confident and I've become a basestealer and a basestealing threat," he said. "Sometimes you have to be smart, you can't just outrun the baseball, but yes, I'm learning. That's part of my game that I really wanted to improve on. I know I'm fast, but if I'm fast and can't steal bases, what's the use?"

Cougars starter Jen-Ho Tseng (2-0) allowed three runs -- two earned -- on six hits and a walk over five frames. The Cubs' No. 14 prospect tied a career high with eight strikeouts.

Kane County, undefeated in five games in the playoffs, will host Game 2 on Thursday evening before the series shifts to Lake County.

"You have to take advantage of being at home. Playing on the road is tough; I don't care who you are," he said. "We were antsy to get after it today and I'm just glad we got on top in the first and got the 'W.'"