Powell returns to beat his old club

CEDAR RAPIDS – Christian Powell returned to a ballpark Sunday afternoon that was the home of his worst baseball moment.

Almost 14 months ago, he was called into Manager Jake Mauer's office at Veterans Memorial Stadium. The Cedar Rapids Kernels had their game against Peoria rained out that night (May 11), and Powell was riding a stationary bicycle in preparation for his next appearance.

It never came.

'Jake just tapped me on the shoulder and said ‘Come to my office,'” said Powell, after pitching Quad Cities past the Kernels, 6-1. 'That was it. I knew it.”

He knew he was being released by the Minnesota Twins. He'd pitched poorly in Rookie ball in 2012 and for the Kernels in 2013 and 2014.

He'd gone from being a starter to a reliever, usually a sign the organization doesn't think as much of you as it once did.

'I wasn't pitching very well,” he said. 'I expected it to happen almost, which is a bad thing and probably didn't help with the way I was performing. It got into my head too much.”

Powell went back to school at the College of Charleston and earned his degree in communications. He didn't pick up a baseball until last November, when he played catch with friend Ryne Slack, a pitcher in the Texas Rangers organization.

'I'm thinking to myself ‘This is stupid. I don't even know why I'm throwing with him,'” Powell said. 'But the more I threw, it was like ‘Man, I feel good. I feel like I'm throwing harder than you are.' He told me it was coming out (of my hand) pretty good. So I talked to my agent, and he got everything set up.”

Powell threw for a scout from the Houston Astros, which eventually led to a contract offer. He joined Quad Cities from extended spring training May 29 and has fared well in the River Bandits' tandem pitching rotation, with a 2.35 earned run average in five appearances.

He and teammate Francis Martes trade starting and relieving roles every five days. Powell got the start Sunday and went five strong innings to beat his old club.

Quad Cities (48-24) won the final three games of this four-game series that began the Midwest League's second half. Cedar Rapids dropped to 42-32 overall.

'It was just like any other game. You've got to go out there and compete,” Powell said. 'Yeah, it was kind of in the back of my head. But I am not the same person I was when I was with them. I am a completely different person now. Getting released was a very humbling experience. It puts you back into the reality of life. You're just a pawn in the game. You can be replaced just as easily as you were picked. That's it.”

The Kernels again struggled offensively, limited to five hits. Their only run of the game came in the fifth inning on Alex Real's home run against Powell.

Contrarily, QC had at least one baserunner in every inning, scoring single runs in the second, third and fourth innings against Kernels starting pitcher and loser Zack Tillery (4-3). Shortstop Alex Bregman, the second-overall pick in the recent 2015 Major League Baseball Draft, hit his first career home run in the third.

He joined Quad Cities on Friday night. The Kernels head to the road for three games at Wisconsin and three against Burlington.

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