MEXICO CITY – The best laid plans of mice, men, and some of the best managers in baseball often go awry.
Just 16 hours after the absurd slugfest between the Diablos Rojos del Mexico and the Cocodrilos de Matanzas that sent the Diablos to the 2026 Baseball Champions League final, the Diablos and the Kane County Cougars battled it out for the title, with the Cougars taking the crown with a 7-3 win.
Diablos manager Lorenzo Bundy had planned for starter James Kaprelian to throw four innings, Justin Courtney to follow him for four more, and then hand the ball to Tomohiro Anraku, last year’s reliever of the year in the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol.
Kaprelian went four innings and allowed just one run on a solo homer before Courtney came on, but the University of Maine product struggled in the sixth inning, allowing six runs on six hits before leaving after just 1 1/3 innings, spoiling Bundy’s pitching plan and ultimately sinking the Diablos hopes of a repeat title at the Baseball Champions League.
With two outs in the bottom of the first, Dillon Thomas sent the first pitch he saw from Kaprelian, the former Oakland A’s starter, into the right field bleachers for a 1-0 Cougars lead.
Dillon Thomas hit a solo homer off James Kaprelian to give the @KCCougars a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. No help needed from the wind, which is relatively calm at the moment.pic.twitter.com/dQJCpaQyr2
— @leifskodnick.bsky.social (@LeifSkodnick) March 29, 2026
“It was just an off-speed pitch that I caught out front, and in this ballpark, if you catch it out front in the air, it’s got a chance,” Thomas said. “So with him, I was just trying to get ready to hit a fastball. And luckily, like I said, I caught a changeup out front and was able to stay through it. And it carried.”
Staked to a 1-0 lead, Cougars starter Konnor Ash cruised against a potent Diablos lineup.
“They’re about as good as the lineup you’re going to get,” Ash said of the Diablos. “Just kind of had to attack, trust my catcher Juan [Fernandez], and good things happened. And I was able to keep us in the ball game, and our hitters came through, so it was awesome.”
The Diablos didn’t threaten until the fourth, when a walk to Jon Singleton and a single by Maikel Franco gave them runners at first and second. Francisco Mejia hit a hot grounder right at Cougars first baseman Josh Rehwaldt, who booted the ball, but second baseman Josh Allen fired home in time to get the slow-footed Singleton, who was inexplicably sent home, at the plate.
Dillon Thomas hit a solo homer off James Kaprelian to give the @KCCougars a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. No help needed from the wind, which is relatively calm at the moment.pic.twitter.com/dQJCpaQyr2
— @leifskodnick.bsky.social (@LeifSkodnick) March 29, 2026
Kaprelian left after four innings, having allowed a run on four hits, walking one and striking out three, and Courtney came out of the bullpen.
In the top of the fifth, facing Kane County starter Konnor Ash, Bryan Gonzalez hit his tournament-leading third homer, a solo shot to right field to tie the game at one apiece.
With Kyle Crigger on the mound for the Cougars in the top of the sixth, the Diablos got a lead-off single from Singleton, who advanced to third on a one-out single by Ramon Flores, but couldn’t get the go-ahead run home, as Francisco Mejia grounded out to short and Rio Ruiz fanned to end the inning and end the threat.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Cougars broke the game open against Courtney. Josh Allen led off the frame with a double off Justin Courtney, who entered the game to start the fifth for the Diablos, and Dillon Thomas followed with a single that got Allen home for a 2-1 Kane County lead. Another single by Todd Lott gave the Cougars runners at the corners with no outs, and yet another single, this time from Josh Rehwaldt, got Thomas home.
“With all of us, I mean, that was probably the best lineup I’ve been a part of, for sure,” said Allen, who was named the BCL MVP after going 8-for-16 with eight runs scored, two homers, and seven RBIs in the round robin and 1-for-3 with a walk and a run scored in the final. “Just knowing that, you know, it just takes a lot the pressure off. If you don’t get the job done, you know, there’s a heck of a lot of firepower behind you that will get it done for you. So it definitely… it definitely helps a lot.”
With an 0-1 count to Max Murphy, Courtney’s pickoff throw to first went wide, allowing Lott to score from third and Rehwaldt to take second.