FARGO, North Dakota – The Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks were able to battle back from a seven-run deficit, however, it was not enough as they fell to the Kansas City Monarchs by a score of 10-9 on a warm Saturday evening at Newman Outdoor Field.

For the fourth straight game, the visitors jumped ahead early as Kansas City used three home runs to power their way to a 5-0 lead. Fargo-Moorhead responded in the bottom of the third inning as All-Star selection Correlle Prime doubled to score fellow selection B.J. Lopez to cut into the deficit.

Both teams added to the board in the fifth inning with Monarchs slugger Brian O’Grady inserted a pitch over the right-center field wall for his third home run of the day. The RedHawks answered with a home run of their own as Manny Boscan took one opposite field for a three-run shot to make it an 8-4 game in favor of the visitors.

Chaos ensued post seventh inning stretch as the RedHawks kicked off the half inning with back-to-back-to-back singles from Boscan, Leo Pina and Alec Olund to score the first run. Nick Novak drew a walk to load the bases for a two-run pinch-hit single from Matt Goodheart to cut the deficit down to one. Evan Alexander followed with a two-RBI single of his own to give Fargo-Moorhead their first lead of the ballgame.

The lead, however, was short lived as Kansas City responded with two runs in the top of the eighth inning, using a bases loaded hit by pitch and a sacrifice fly to bring the game to its final score as Fargo-Moorhead were unable to put runners across in the bottom of the eighth and ninth innings.

With the loss, the RedHawks fall to a 27-22 record, dropping further back in the AAPB West Division race as they are now five games back of the Monarchs after going 2-8 in their last 10 games. The two teams will face off in the series finale on Sunday, July 9. The first pitch from Newman Outdoor Field is scheduled for 1 p.m. with gates scheduled to open at noon.