IN THE COUGARS' DEN: First half provided numerous moments

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CLINTON, Iowa – The first half of baseball at the new and improved ballpark on Cherry Lane in Geneva was, well, new and improved.

It was a 70-game stretch of walk-off wins, near no-hitters and a great deal of success on the field, culminating with the Cougars’ first Western Division title since 2004. It also happened to be the first half of the first season Elfstrom Stadium opened its doors with its significant renovation, sporting an upper deck.

Aside from a May 23 fire beyond the left field party deck and a faulty main scoreboard, the first run-through of the production went off with few hitches.

The on-field excitement was provided by a group of players that in large part lacked big-name prospects. No No. 1 picks played in Kane County in the first half, and only three Cougars players are ranked among the Baseball America Top 30 in the Oakland system.

Jeremy Barfield, one of the Cougars’ seven Midwest League All-Stars in Clinton, Iowa on Tuesday, thinks that worked to the advantage of the Cougars, both on and off the field.

“We’ve got a really close team,” Barfield said. “We’ve had pretty much the same core group of guys for a while. We’re really close. We enjoy each other’s company, and I guarantee everybody wants to win.”

Such camaraderie and clubhouse unity was best displayed Friday. The second game of a four-game set was called before the first pitch after heavy rain and strong winds blanketed the area. After the announcement, the entire team took to the tarp and put on a show sure to have made slip-and-sliders of all ages jealous.

And just because this current Cougars version is lacking in big-time names and huge signing bonuses doesn’t mean the individual performances weren’t there.

On April 14, Ben Hornbeck carried a no-hitter through the fifth inning of a seven-inning game before leaving the game due to pitch-count restrictions. A day earlier, Anthony Capra also took a no-hit bid through five innings.

Barfield became the fifth player in Cougars history to club three home runs in a game on May 12 and just missed a fourth.

Hometown favorite and Western Division All-Star starting pitcher Kenny Smalley battled Kaneland great and current West Michigan Whitecaps pitcher Casey Crosby in a Memorial Day weekend game with more homegrown Kane County flavor than ever before at Elfstrom.

Grant Desme hit a 10th-inning walk-off bomb to left field on June 9 that may or may not have landed in St. Charles to cap a come-from-behind win over Peoria, a win that loomed large in the division title chase.

There were also uplifting stories of perseverance. All-Star first baseman Steve Kleen and relief pitcher Jason Ray each returned from year-plus injury layoffs and did nothing but help the team win games. Manager Steve Scarsone is itching to tell the two to pack their bags for a promotion.

If or when that will happen is anyone’s guess, but changes are sure to come. They always do this time of year as draft picks sign and are assigned, but Barfield hopes the team is able to keep a solid core together to make a serious Midwest League championship run.

“I’m pretty sure if we stay together, the group we have, we can win it all,” Barfield said. “Everybody knows that and we just enjoy each other.”

As for that scoreboard issue? It should be fixed in due time, and for the time being fans should just plan on keeping track of the score with one of the smaller scoreboards or simply by keeping their eyes on the field.

And with this group, that hasn’t been a hard thing to do.

Who’s hot
Steve Kleen ended the first half with 26 RBIs in his final 33 games. He was also one of two players to leave the yard in Tuesday night’s Midwest League All-Star game.

Who’s not
After an encouraging start at Cedar Rapids on June 14 in which he threw six innings without allowing an earned run, Matt Fitts struggled again on June 20, allowing six runs on six hits in two innings against Wisconsin.

Star watch
Quad Cities catcher Charles Cutler leads the Midwest League in batting with a .368 average, and the visiting Cougars will get to pitch to him beginning tonight at 7 p.m. when Pedro Figueroa takes the bump on the Cougars’ first series of the second half.

Noteworthy
Closer Mickey Storey ended the first half with an 11-inning scoreless stretch in which he yielded just two hits. … Grant Desme went 24-for-24 in stolen base attempts in the first half, and if he remains in Kane County during the second, he has a very good shot at surpassing Michael Richard’s single season Cougars mark as an A’s affiliate of 35. … Jamie Richmond has walked just five batters in 42 innings of work. Factor in his 33 strikeouts and he’s got a better than 6-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio that most big leaguers would be more than satisfied with.

• Kevin Chroust is a sportswriter for The Chronicle. Reach him at  editorial@kcchronicle.com.