Kernels lose game, infielder Schmit to nasty hit by pitch

CEDAR RAPIDS - Sometimes you just can't get out of the way.

Unfortunately that was the case Wednesday night for infielder Blake Schmit of the Cedar Rapids Kernels. He was hit in the head in the eighth inning by a fastball from Great Lakes relief pitcher Karch Kowalczyk that registered at 95 miles per hour on the tracking system the parent Minnesota Twins have installed this season at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

He never appeared to lose consciousness but laid in the batter's box for a number of minutes while Kernels trainer Curtis Simondel, Manager Jake Mauer and hitting coach Tommy Watkins rushed to his side and tended to him.

The pitch knocked his helmet off, though the belief was it cushioned what could have been an even worse blow. Great Lakes won, 2-1.

'I think the helmet hit him in the nose. That's where he was bleeding from, the nose,” Mauer said. 'I'm praying it got enough of the helmet that there is nothing (wrong) with his eye or anything. He's definitely going to be swollen tomorrow, probably going to look like a boxer. That was scary. All things considered, I think it's pretty lucky that (a concussion) is all that it was.”

Schmit was taken via ambulance to the hospital, where he was getting checked out postgame. A concussion means he automatically goes on the seven-day disabled list.

Hopefully it won't be much longer than that.

'That was scary, man. I never like seeing that,” said teammate Tanner English. 'That'll make you cringe, man. Unfortunately it's part of the game. The one part that you don't like to see. I hope he's all right. I said a little prayer for him on the field. I hate to see that.”

Mauer said the worst hit by pitch he ever saw was when he was managing Fort Myers in the Florida State League and Steve Tolleson, an infielder with the Toronto Blue Jays, was hit in the face by a pitch that knocked him out.

As he fell back unconscious, he tore his ACL.

'So he had to have his jaw wired shot and his knee repaired,” Mauer said.

The Kernels (36-23) came up short in a pitcher's dual that featured fine starting performances from Brandon Martinez of the Loons and Felix Jorge of Cedar Rapids. Johan Mieses hit a two-out solo home run to left-center for Great Lakes to break a scoreless tie.

The Loons (32-26) added another run in the eighth. Cedar Rapids got it back in the botton half, but stranded two runners on.

Brett Doe extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a ninth-inning double with two outs in the ninth, but T.J. White grounded back to reliever J.D. Underwood to end it.

The teams play again Thursday night at 6:35. Including Wednesday's game, the Eastern Division has a 37-18 record against the Western Division in head-to-head play that began last week and ends early next week.

'These guys were a little different, but West Michigan and South Bend (who the Kernels played last week), their approaches were different. The pitching was fair. I think these guys have a little more pitching than the two other teams we saw. But the three teams we've seen, they don't get themselves out. They take good at-bats and good swings. So that trend may continue, from what I've seen.”

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