In just a matter of minutes, the Fort Wayne Wizards’ lead unraveled.

Starter Cory Luebke was throwing a no-hitter through four innings until cleanup hitter Larry Cobb led off the fifth inning with a first-pitch home run.

Five more hits and three more runs scored to put a damper on Luebke’s night as the Kane County Cougars went on to beat the Wizards 7-2 on Friday night in front of 5,088 fans at Memorial Stadium.

“What happened in the (fifth) inning was that he kept throwing a lot of fastballs and got away from throwing the softer stuff,” Wizards manager Doug Dascenzo said. “Even though their last couple runs were chopped balls, the fact of the matter is he stopped doing what he was doing so well in the first three or four innings.”

After the home run, Luebke allowed a single, threw a wild pitch and then surrendered an RBI double that tied the game at two.

He got two quick outs but three straight Cougars singled – two of which drove in runs – to end his outing. The Cougars (51-50 overall, 12-21 second half) held a 4-2 lead after the inning.

“A couple of their runs they earned I thought,” Dascenzo said. “They had that little chopper and it hits the lip at third base. Then they have a chopper for an additional run. That’s the way the ball bounces sometimes and you have to deal with that.”

The Wizards offense spotted Luebke a modest two-run lead in the first inning, but it was silent for the rest of the game. They scored runs on a bases-loaded walk and wild pitch but only had one hit. They even had runners on second and third bases with one out, but Yefri Carvajal and Andy Parrino struck out to end that threat.

Stranding base runners was a common theme. The Wizards (53-51, 16-18) left 11 runners on base – nine in scoring position – and hit into three double plays. Four of the runners stranded were on third base.

“That’s what it boils down to,” Dascenzo said. “Anytime you get an opportunity to score a run you have to cash in on it in order to stay in the ballgame or add on (to the lead). We didn’t.”

The Dragons added a run in the seventh inning on Greg Dowling’s solo home run and two more in the eighth inning on back-to-back RBI singles from Todd Johnson and Jake Smith.

The Wizards won the series by taking two of three games.


Notes: The Wizards begin a three-game series today with the Peoria Chiefs. The Chiefs were involved in a bench-clearing brawl with the Dayton Dragons on Thursday night that saw 17 ejections, including both teams’ managers. None of the players have been suspended yet – although pitcher Julio Castillo has been charged with felonious assault (See story below). Outfielder Ryan Hill was promoted from the Class A-short season Eugene Emeralds to the Wizards to fill the roster spot of outfielder Danny Payne, who was put on the disabled list. Hill was a 15th-round pick in 2007. He hit .256 with 12 RBIs in 25 games as an Emerald.