Poncedeleon Shuts Down Cougars

Peoria, IL- The Peoria Chiefs manufactured three runs Monday afternoon and it was more than enough as they got eight shutout innings from Daniel Poncedeleon to beat the Kane County Cougars 3-0. The win lifts the Chiefs to 26-26 on the season. They will now enjoy an off day before starting a six-game road trip Wednesday with three games each at Great Lakes and Lansing.

    The Chiefs started the scoring in the bottom of the second against Cougars starter Touki Toussaint. Adam Ehrlich led off with a walk and advanced to third when Blake Drake doubled down the left field line. Ehrlich scored when Andrew Sohn lifted a sacrifice fly to center to give the Chiefs a 1-0 lead.

    The Chiefs added an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh against new Cougars hurler Jency Solis. Vaughn Bryan led off with an infield single and went to second on a throwing error by Cougars second baseman Ryan Gebhardt. Bryan advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Danny Diekroeger and scored on a wild pitch to make it 2-0.

    The Chiefs added another insurance tally in the bottom of the eighth. Drake led off with a double and was sacrificed to third by Sohn. Drake scored on a sacrifice fly by Darren Seferina to make it 3-0 Peoria.

    Poncedeleon (6-0) got the win with eight shutout innings, allowing only three hits and one walk, striking out five. Poncedeleon was in cruise control throughout the game, he stranded two runners in scoring position in the first inning and did not allow a runner past second the rest of the way. Tyler Bray came in to earn his second save, pitching a perfect ninth, striking out one.

Notes: Ehrlich's start at first base was his first as a professional…Diekroeger singled in the first to extend his hitting streak to nine games…He added another hit in the fifth and now has six multi-hit games during that streak…Luis Cruz was ejected after striking out to end the third inning, marking the first time this season a Chiefs player has been ejected…The last Chiefs player to be ejected was Justin Ringo July 9, 2014...Poncedeleon lowered his ERA to 1.51, fourth lowest in the Midwest League…Poncedeleon now leads the Chiefs with six wins which is tied for second in the Midwest League…Peoria will now have an off day Tuesday before beginning a six-game road trip Wednesday at Great Lakes with a 6:05 Central Time start…The Chiefs send RH Matt Pearce (3-4, 3.20) against a TBA pitcher for Great Lakes…The broadcast can be heard, starting with the Pre-Game Show at 6:50 p.m., on www.peoriachiefs.com/listenlive which also has downloads for a free app on the iPhone, iPad, Blackberry and Android…The broadcast is also available on the Peoria Chiefs Network in the MiLB Inside the Park and Tune-In Radio Apps.