Railroaders in first place after sweeping Kansas City, winning five of six on the road

FARGO and KANSAS CITY – The Cleburne Railroaders (27-20) take over first place in the Eastern Division after winning five of six games on the road this week. Early in the week they traveled to Fargo winning two of three against the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks (26-19) before spending the weekend in Kansas City sweeping the Kansas City Monarchs (20-23).

Cleburne started off the week with an offensive explosion, winning 18-11 on Tuesday in Fargo. Jaxx Groshans was hot in this game going 3-for-5 scoring two runs and batting in four. Groshans finished the week with eight hits and seven RBIs moving his RBI total for the season to 42.

Shed Long also went 3-for-5 on Tuesday with two RBIs and two walks. Long is batting .328 this season and has recorded a base hit in 12 straight games while getting an RBI in 10 of those games.

The hit leader this week for Cleburne was Hill Alexander who had 13 hits including two 4-hit games. Alexander hit two home runs batting in eight runs and now has eight home runs this season.

Cleburne added outfielder Korey Holland to the roster this week and was put to work right away getting in the lineup in all six games. Holland recorded a hit in every game he played going 9-for-23 with a home run and three RBIs, batting .391 after his first week with Cleburne.

Thomas Dillard got nine hits this week and is on a modest eight game hitting streak. Dillard is batting .265 with 10 home runs and 34 RBIs in 47 games this season.

Cleburne also added pitcher Jalen Miller (1-0) to the club this week. landing in the rotation getting two starts on at the start and end of the week. Miller lasted just one inning in the 18-11 win on Tuesday, giving five earned runs. Miller also started in game two of Sunday's doubleheader pitching much better, going six scoreless innings while striking out eight in the 5-3 victory.

Jacques Pucheu (5-1) continued his stellar season with a complete game victory over Fargo-Moorhead on Thursday, giving the Cleburne bullpen some much needed rest. Pucheu pitched nine innings giving up just one hit and striking out six. Pucheu has a 2.29 ERA in 51 innings pitched this season.

Kyle Johnston (2-3) got the start for Cleburne in their 9-6 win on Friday, giving up four runs off six hits and striking out in four innings of work. Johnston has struck out 38 batters in nine games this season.

Chris Muller was Cleburne's most effective reliever this week pitching three perfect innings in two appearances. Muller has a 2.70 ERA in 18 relief appearances this season for Cleburne.

Cleburne now returns home for the 4th of July to host the Lake Country DockHounds (19-27) in a six game series at La Moderna Field starting on Tuesday. Lake Country is in fifth place in the Eastern Division after losing two of three in a series versus the Lincoln Saltdogs.