College friends are Kernels teammates

CEDAR RAPIDS – Tyler Kuresa dove to his right and made a great stab of a ground ball in the sixth inning Sunday afternoon at Veterans Memorial Stadium. The first baseman scrambled to his feet and tossed the baseball to the pitcher covering for one sweet '3-1” out.

That it was Jared Wilson at the bag made it that much sweeter. There's nothing like giving a little help to your friend.

'Jared and I were best friends in college, so it's actually worked out very well that we're here together,” said Kuresa, whose Cedar Rapids Kernels dropped a 6-5 decision to Quad Cities before 1,610 fans at Veterans Memorial Stadium. 'If you would have asked any of our teammates in college, they would have said it was inevitable that we'd end up in the same (professional) organization because we spent so much time together in college.”

It's not that uncommon at the low-Class A level to see guys from the same school playing together. It happens.

But it's highly unusual to see two sets of college teammates on the same professional team. That's what you've got with the Kernels.

Kuresa and Wilson are from the University of California-Santa Barbara. Relief pitchers Michael Theofanopoulos and Trevor Hildenberger played together at the University of California-Berkeley.

'We're lucky we got drafted (by the same organization),” Hildenberger said. 'You have someone who you already knew, and you are learning pro ball and acclimating to it together. Luckily, we get along. You don't get along with every one of your college teammates. It's a blessing to have him.”

Theofanopoulos and Hildenberger have the same billet family here in town. Kuresa and Wilson don't live together but are close enough friends that Wilson is going to be a groomsman in Kuresa's wedding in October.

'Just a blast. Both of our families know each other really well. It's been fun,” said Wilson, who threw six good innings Sunday but got a no decision. 'It's kind of funny that we weren't just college teammates, but actually good friends, too. It's pretty awesome to have a built-in friend on the team and stuff like that. It makes for an easier transition. Hopefully I've helped him because I was here last year and know the ropes a little more.”

Wilson was a 19th-round draft pick of the parent Minnesota Twins in 2013, while Kuresa went in the 16th round last year. Hildenberger was taken in the 22nd round last year, with Theofanopoulos drafted eight rounds later.

They have excelled as a righty-lefty combo out of the Kernels pen, the fact that they throw with different arms making it easier on their friendship. After all, they are in virtually direct competition against one another in their efforts to advance in the minors and someday hopefully make it to the major leagues,

'We both fill the same role as bullpen guys, but my competitive nature will never divide a friendship,” Hildenberger said. 'If we were both left-handed pitchers, it might be a little bit different. Or if he was a sidearmer like me, too, it might be a little different. But we are different enough to where we can coexist a little better.”

Quad Cities improved its baseball-best record to 29-8 by scoring a run in the top of the ninth inning to break a 5-5 tie. Bobby Boyd led off against losing reliever Zack Tillery (3-1) with a double and was bunted to third.

Tillery struck out Derek Fisher swinging, but Jacob Nottingham lined a single to left to score Boyd. Kuresa had a one-out double in the bottom of the ninth, but the Kernels (22-14) were unable to get pinch runner Nick Gordon home.

Cedar Rapids heads to the road for a week-long road trip to Peoria and Beloit. Monday night will feature the completion of a suspended game from last week against Peoria and another seven-inning game.

The Kernels lead the suspended game, 6-2, in the bottom of the fourth inning.

The Kernels and Twins announced a pair of player moves after Sunday's game. Relief pitchers Sam Clay and C.K. Irby were sent to extended spring training in Fort Myers, Fla., and will be replaced on the active roster by pitchers Yorman Landa and Keaton Steele, who will join the team from extended.

Clay was 0-0 with a 4.50 earned run average in nine games, Irby 0-0 with a save and a 3.21 ERA in 10 appearances. They each averaged a walk per inning.

Landa, from Venezuela, was 3-1 with a 2.88 ERA in 13 relief appearances last season for the Kernels but was placed on the disabled list in May and underwent shoulder surgery. Steele, who is expected to start the suspended game Monday, was 2-1 with a 2.93 ERA last season at Rookie-level Elizabethton.

Steele was an eighth-round draft pick of the Twins last year out of the University of Missouri.

l Comments: (319) 398-8259; jeff.johnson@thegazette.com