Kernels lose homestand finale, hit road for 11 days

CEDAR RAPIDS - The homestand is over, the road trip begins. And how.

The Cedar Rapids Kernels board their bus at 4 this afternoon for an eight-hour ride to Fort Wayne, Ind. They'll spend 11 consecutive days away from the City of Five Seasons, with nine games in three cities, two in the Eastern time zone.

It's three games at Fort Wayne beginning Wednesday, then three in suburban Cleveland against Lake County. After an off day, it's three more games in suburban Chicago against Kane County.

If they survive, they'll return to Veterans Memorial Stadium July 30 to host Beloit.

“Has got to be our longest trip,” said center fielder Travis Witherspoon, after the Kernels lost to Dayton, 6-4, Monday afternoon. “Being away from home that long, you try and stay in your routines, like you do at home. It'll be a grind, but I think we'll definitely be able to get through it.”

Cedar Rapids heads to the road off a tough loss. Dayton (51-43) scored twice in the ninth inning against relievers Dakota Robinson (7-2) and Daniel Tillman to win the rubber game of this three-game series.

The Kernels (43-51, 11-13 second half) went 5-4 on their longest homestand of the Midwest League season. Probably not the headway they needed to make in the Western Division, though Manager Brent Del Chiaro insisted he was satisfied.

“Any time you can be over .500 on a home stretch like this, it's always good,” Del Chiaro said. “We had a chance to win all three series. We (only) won one, but I like the way we're playing overall. We're playing better baseball.”

Cedar Rapids is three games behind Beloit and Kane County for first place and the two second-half playoff spots up for grabs in the West.

“We still have some areas we need to improve on,” said Witherspoon, who has returned to the top of the batting order after a stint on the DL. “We've definitely played a lot better baseball the last week or so. We're not happy with where we're at, but we are happy with the improvement we've made.”

Witherspoon and Ricky Alvarez had home runs for the Kernels. Dayton shortstop Billy Hamilton stole his 70th base of the season.