Midwest League championship comes down to winner-take-all Game 5

CEDAR RAPIDS - Amid the chaos and celebration following Saturday afternoon's stirring ninth-inning Game 3 comeback win, Cedar Rapids Kernels Manager Jake Mauer issued a word of warning.

'It's not over,” he said.

Turns out the guy's a prophet because the Midwest League Championship Series isn't over. There's one more chapter left in this engaging novel.

West Michigan's 2-1 win Sunday afternoon in Game 4 sets up a winner-take-all finale Monday night at Veterans Memorial Stadium. First pitch is 6:35, though no one's saying who will throw it.

In a bit of continuing gamesmanship, Mauer isn't publicly announcing his starting pitcher until West Michigan Manager Andrew Graham divulges his. That's the home team's right.

The Whitecaps apparently were late in naming Jeff Thompson their starter Sunday, so Mauer is playing it coy.

'We're not telling them until they tell us. We're going to play that game, I guess,” Mauer said. 'We're not going to say anything until they tell us what they're going to do. We're going to keep it top secret.”

He was asked if it was safe to assume it would either be Game 1 starter Felix Jorge or Randy LeBlanc, who has one relief inning this postseason but who would have gotten the nod for a deciding Game 3 in the Western Division finals against Peoria.

'Nope,” Mauer said, with a grin. 'It might even be (pitching coach) Henry Bonilla out there.”

This game followed the pattern of the other games in this exquisite series: low scoring and dramatic, with things seeming to turn on every pitch. The Kernels again got the upper hand early, with Nick Gordon doubling in the third inning and scoring on T.J. White's two-out single up the middle.

But Cedar Rapids could have had runs prior to that, failing to score in the first despite runners at the corners with none out, and in the second despite runners at the corners with one out.

'That's what it's like in the playoffs,” said Kernels designated hitter Max Murphy. 'You've got to capitalize when you get even the smallest chance. We did for one run, but that was it. It wasn't enough.”

West Michigan nicked losing pitcher Randy Rosario for a pair of runs in the fifth that turned out to be the difference. Austin Diemer's one-out triple in the bottom half had the Kernels on the verge of tying it, but he was thrown out at the plate when Rafael Valera hit a grounder to short with the Whitecaps playing their infield in.

'I was going on contact, the shortstop made a good throw,” Diemer said.

'At that point, we're just trying to scratch out anything,” Mauer said. 'You've got to take that opportunity.”

The ninth inning was total deja vu except for the finish. The Kernels brought up the same 3-4-5 hitters (Edgar Corcino, T.J. White and LaMonte Wade) as they did when they scored twice Saturday, with the score even the same.

Corcino walked against reliever Johan Belisario leading off and went to second on Wade's single to center. Chris Paul struck out looking at a 3-2 breaking ball for the second out, but Murphy walked to load the bases for Brian Navarreto.

It was his infield single against longtime buddy Joe Jimenez that scored the winning run Saturday. Naturally, Jimenez was brought in to face him again.

But this time the pitcher prevailed, with Navarreto fouling off two fastballs, then swinging and missing at a slider.

'It's tough because sometimes you don't get out from (situations) the way you want,” Jimenez said. 'But today, I came in with new energy. It was the same spot. I just got him this time.”

So it's on to Game 5. These guys have been playing baseball virtually every day for seven months and it's one final game that determines whether Cedar Rapids wins its first MWL title since 1994 or West Michigan wins its sixth since 1996.

Maybe that's the way it should be.

'Baseball is a crazy game, it's a beautiful game,” Diemer said. 'We've just got to come out tomorrow. I've got faith in all the guys. We're going to be ready to go.”

'We're going to come in here tomorrow and be ready to play,” Murphy said. 'I can't speak for everyone, but, for me, it's going to be exciting, it's going to be nerveracking. I'm just excited to see how it comes out.”

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