It took ten innings, and it was frustrating to watch at times, but in the end the Cougars got the win. They did need three unearned runs in the tenth inning to do it but well take it.
The Cougars got those three runs in the tenth when, Raul Padron led things off with a single to center. Padron was then pitch run by Ryan Ruiz. Wes Long then reached on a fielder's choice, with Ruiz being out at second. Kory Waymnet singled to center. Chris Tritle was then intentionally walked to load the bases with only the one out. Gregorio Petit hit one to second. The second baseman Josh LeBlanc had then ball go right through his legs for an error. Long and Wayment would score. Nicholas Blasi then hit one to right. Tritle tagged up and scored on the sacrifice fly. Unfortunatly, Petit forgot how many out there were and took off for second, and when the ball was caught he was near third. He would be out for the double play to end the inning.
Cedar Rapids actually scored the first run of the season. With one out Freddy Sandoval singled to center, he would take off for second on the first pitch and be caught stealing by Padron. Sean Rodriguez then walked. The Kernels then were succesfull with a perfect hit and run, as Aaron Peel singled through the right side to get Rodriguez to third. Jordan Renz singled to right to score Rodriguez.
The Cougars did have chances to score in the first few innings. In the first inning Blasi led off the season with a walk, then stole second. One out later, Myron Lesliewalked. Tommy Everidge then struck out, and Padron grounded out. In the third inning Blasi led off again with a walk. Kevin Melillo doubled down the line, just over the glove of the first baseman. Blasi would make it to third. Leslie then was called out looking. Everidge then popped out to second to end the inning.
Finally the Cougars would break through in the fourth inning with two runs. With one out, Long singled to right. Wayment then singled to left. One out later, Petit walked to load the bases. Blasi singled to center to score both Long and Wayment. The Kernels made a pitching change, and Melillo would strike out to end the inning.
With one out in the fifth, Everidge singled to right. Padron then singled to center. Long would then strike out. Wayment would be caught looking to end the threat.
Ryan Ford started for the Cougars and was a little shakey. In the fourth inning with two outs, Tommy Deunas doubled to left, he would then get to third on a wild pitch. He then struck out Richard Giannotti to end the inning. Ford seems to be using his leg to stop his body in his motion and not following through, which helped accounting for the six hits and four walks he gave up when he couldnt get the ball down.
The Kernels tied the game in the fifth with a run. With two outs, Rodriguez walked, he then stole second. Peel then walked, and they performed a double steal. Jordan Renz then hit one down to third, and Leslie made an error which allowed for Rodriguez to score.
Jared Trout would come in for the sixth inning. Clifton Remole led off the inning with a single to left, he then stole second. One out later, Giannotti walked. LeBlanc would also walk which would load the bases. Trout got lucky and Sandoval hit into an inning ending double play.
Clay Tichota came in for the seventh. Rodriguez greated him to the Midwest League with a single to right, the stole second. Tichota then tried to pick off Rodriguez and threw the ball into center field. Actually Petit forgot to cover second base on the pick off play. Rodriguez went over to third on the error. Peel then struck out. Renz would hit a sacrifice fly to right to allow Rodriguez to score to give the Kernels the lead. Warner Madrigal then struck out looking.
The eighth inning was led off by Long with a single to right. Wayment would then reach on a fielder's choice, with Long being out at second. Tritle would strike out. Petit hit a homer that was just fair and just over the wall in left field.
James Heuser came in to start the eighth inning. Remole doubled to center to led off. Robert Semerano then came on, the first pitch was off of Padron's glove and Remole moved into third. Deunas then singled to third. Giannotti bunted one over trying to get the run home. Semerano got the ball and threw it to Padron who tagged out Remole for the first out. LeBlanc struck out for the second out. Sandoval would then ground out to end the inning.
The bottom of the ninth wasnt much fun to watch. Rodriguez would reach on an error by Leslie. Peel then hit one hard to deep center. Tritle lost the ball in the sun. A wild pitch would allow Rodriguez to score to tie the game, with Peel coming around third to try to score. Padron couldnt find the ball as it had rolled off towards the Kernels dugout. Pitcher Scott Drucker got the ball and threw to Padron to get Peel out. Renz struck out for the second out. Madrigal would reach on an error by Leslie. Remole singled to right, Deunas then popped out to short to end the inning.
Cougars
| Name |
POS |
AB |
R |
H |
RBI |
| Nicholas Blasi |
LF |
2 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
| Kevin Melillo |
2B |
5 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
| Myron Leslie |
3B |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Tommy Everidge |
1B |
5 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| Raul Padron |
C |
5 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
| Ryan Ruiz |
PR |
| Travis Chapman |
C |
| Wes Long |
DH |
5 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
| Kory Wayment |
RF |
5 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
| Chris Tritle |
CF |
4 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| Gregorio Petit |
SS |
4 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
Kernels
| Name |
POS |
AB |
R |
H |
RBI |
| Josh LeBlanc |
2B |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Freddy Sandoval |
3B |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| Sean Rodriguez |
SS |
3 |
4 |
2 |
0 |
| Aaron Peel |
DH |
3 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
| Jordan Renz |
LF |
4 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
| Warner Madrigal |
RF |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Clifton Remole |
1B |
5 |
0 |
4 |
2 |
| Tommy Deunas |
C |
5 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
| Richard Giannotti |
CF |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
E-Leslie 3, Tichota, LeBlanc, Giannotti, LOB-Cougars-9, Kernels-13, RLISP-Cougars-5, Kernels-8, 2B-Melillo (1), Peel (1), Remole (1), Deunas (1), HR-Petit (1)(Stanton), RBI-Blasi 3 (3), Petit 2 (2), Renz 2 (2), SACF-Blasi (1), Renz (1), SB-Blasi (1), Rodriguez 3 (3), Peel (1), Remole (1), CS-Tritle (1), Sandoval (1), DP-Lesli (1)(L6-3), Sandoval (1)(6-4-3), Giannotti (6-4-3)
| Kane County |
|
|
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
2 |
0 |
0 |
|
0 |
2 |
0 |
|
3 |
|
|
7 |
11 |
4 |
| Cedar Rapids |
|
|
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
0 |
|
|
4 |
11 |
2 |
Cougars
| Name |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO |
Decison |
WP |
HB |
BK |
AB |
BF |
GB |
FB |
NP |
S |
| Ryan Ford |
5 |
6 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
3 |
ND |
1 |
0 |
0 |
20 |
24 |
7 |
3 |
79 |
44 |
| Jared Trout |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
ND |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
5 |
1 |
1 |
21 |
10 |
| Clay Tichota |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
ND |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
22 |
12 |
| James Heuser |
0+1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
ND |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
3 |
| Robert Semerano |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
ND |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
4 |
2 |
0 |
12 |
9 |
| Scott Drucker |
2 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
W (1-0) |
1 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
10 |
2 |
1 |
38 |
23 |
Kernels
| Name |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO |
Decison |
WP |
HB |
BK |
AB |
BF |
GB |
FB |
NP |
S |
| Fernando Rodriguez |
3.2+2 |
4 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
5 |
ND |
0 |
0 |
0 |
15 |
19 |
3 |
2 |
74 |
45 |
| Jesse Smith |
2+1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
ND |
0 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
8 |
2 |
0 |
42 |
26 |
| T.J. Stanton |
2.1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
ND |
0 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
9 |
1 |
3 |
32 |
22 |
| Mitch Arnold |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
ND |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
13 |
7 |
| Chris Waters |
1 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
L (0-1) |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
6 |
1 |
1 |
16 |
7 |
PB-Padron, SO-Blasi, Melillo, Everidge, Padron, Long, Tritle 2,LeBlanc, Sandoval 2, Renz, Peel, Kc-Melillo 2, Leslie, Wayment, Tritle, Madrigal, Giannotti 2, BB-Blasi 2, Leslie, Petit, LeBlanc, Sandoval, Rodriguez 2, Peel 2, Giannotti, IBB-Tritle
A-1,757
T-3:28
57 degrees at game time
Umpires HP-Victor Carapazza, BS-Grant Menke
Notes-In the eighth inning Dave Joppie made a nice play on a one hop liner foul ball.