Kernels ‘panic,’ lose 3rd straight

CEDAR RAPIDS - You don't seem to hear the word ‘panic' much in baseball. It usually refers to a football quarterback or a basketball team facing an aggressive defense.

But Manager Jake Mauer threw it around a few times Thursday night in talking about his Cedar Rapids Kernels.

'We have a lot of guys around who are inexperienced, so when it comes down to crunch time, they don't know how to react,” Mauer said after a 7-3 loss to West Michigan on another cold night at Veterans Memorial Stadium. 'There was a lot of panic tonight, which concerned me. Once you get late in the game, those last three outs aren't any different than the first three outs or middle three outs. They're the same three outs. We just panicked a little bit.”

Mauer was specifically referring to an awful ninth inning in which West Michigan (8-6) scored four times for the win.

Wynton Bernard led off with a high fly ball that bounced off the base of the tall wall in left field for a double that Mauer felt left fielder Jeremias Pineda could have caught. Bernard later scored.

With a runner on first and one out, second baseman Logan Wade charged a slow roller, hesitated on what to do, missed tagging the guy running by him and threw late to first. Dominic Ficociello then singled to center, with center fielder Jason Kanzler unable to field it cleanly or pick it up in a timely manner, with two more runs scoring.

Hudson Boyd (2-1) was charged with the pitching loss.

'We are not necessarily young, but we are inexperienced,” Mauer said. 'We have a lot of guys who have not played A-ball. In talking to Logan Wade, it's like, OK, act like you tagged the guy. Don't go back and try and tag him again. He wasn't out of the baseline, he just missed him.”

Cedar Rapids (8-6) rallied for a tie in the eighth inning when Wade shot a ball hard past first and into the right-field corner for a two-run double. The Kernels have trailed in each of their seven home games so far this season, which isn't a good pattern.

'Our starters haven't blown up to the point where it hasn't been reachable for us,” Mauer said. 'But they have put our bullpen in a tough spot.”

Mauer said catcher Michael Quesada is likely to end up the disabled list after being hit in the right wrist/hand with a pitch in a game Wednesday night against South Bend. X-rays on Quesada were negative, but he isn't expected to be able to play anytime soon.

Outfielder Chad Christensen missed his fourth game in a row with a sore elbow. An MRI on outfielder Zack Granite's injured shoulder showed no major damage.

Mauer said he expects the Kernels to receive a catcher from Minnesota Twins extended spring training sometime today. The teams play the second game of the three-game series tonight at 6:35.

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