Cedar Rapids Kernels force deciding Game 3 of Midwest League Western Division championship series

CEDAR RAPIDS - The Cedar Rapids Kernels 2025 baseball season remains a thing. Thanks to a couple of teenagers.

Dasan Hill and Eduardo Tait are both 19 years old, to be specfic. Starting pitcher Hill threw a real good five innings, and designated hitter Tait had a pair of doubles that resulted in runs, both helping the Kernels past Beloit, 5-3, in Game 2 of the Midwest League Western Division championship series before 1,928 fans Thursday night at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

It’ll be a winner-take-all Game 3 Friday night at Memorial Stadium. The winning team moves on to the league finals versus West Michigan.

Carlos Bohorquez (1-1, 3.52 ERA) is expected to be the starting pitcher Friday night for C.R. and righty Luke Lashutka (1-3, 2.67) for Beloit. First pitch is 6:35.

“I thought the crowd was great tonight,” Kernels Manager Brian Meyer said. “There was energy from the beginning and throughout until the end. Really cool to have that environment not just for them, but for our players, too. That felt like playoff baseball tonight.”

You bet it did.

The Kernels took a quick lead by scoring a run in the top of the first inning. Tait doubled to right-center field with two outs, Billy Amick was walked by Beloit starting pitcher Noble Meyer, then Danny DeAndrade squeaked a grounder through the right side of the infield to score Tait.

Lefty Hill showed why he is a top-10 prospect in the parent Minnesota Twins, rolling through the first two innings with a 96-mile-per-hour fastball, a slider, a curveball and a changeup. The Texas native was nicked for a run in the top of the third, but pitched out of a runners-at-second-and-third, one-out situation by striking out Beloit’s Aiva Arquette (the No. 6 overall draft pick of the Miami Marlins in July) and then getting an Ian Lewis groundout.

Beloit took a 2-1 lead when Cody Schrier hit a no-doubter home run over the porch in left field in the fifth, but Hill settled down and got the next three outs. He gave up just two hits, two walks and two runs in his five innings, striking out seven.

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“Dasan was electric tonight,” Meyer said. “The fastball was really good, his breaking stuff was good. He kind of lost command there in the third inning ... but you know he battled throughout that inning.”

The Kernels put a four-run rally together in the bottom of the fifth that ended up being the difference. Poncho Ruiz and Jaime Ferrer led off with walks against Beloit reliever Peyton Fosher, with Fosher striking out leading hitter Kyle DeBarge looking on a 3-2 borderline pitch that might have been inside.

But Marek Houston drove a pitch opposite-field toward the right-field corner, the ball landing over and to the right of Beloit’s right fielder to a game-tying double. Tait followed with a twisting oppo drive to left that bounced off the fence for a two-run double that put Cedar Rapids on top, 4-2.

DeAndrade came through again with a two-out run-scoring single up the middle for a four-run inning and 5-2 lead. DeAndrade went 2-for-4 in the game, Tait 2-for-3 with a walk.

“I had really good at-bats tonight. I felt good,” said Tait, through the translation assistance of co-pitching coach A.J. Angula. “I went out there, trusted the plan and was able to get those two hits.”

Tait, from Panama, was acquired by the Twins from the Philadelphia Phillies at the MLB trade deadline in a deal that sent all-star closer Jhoan Duran to Philly. He has shown an ability to drive the baseball (as a rare lefty hitting catcher) and has been better than advertised defensively.

“At the beginning, it was really hard,” Tait said of his trade. “But I was lucky enough to get into this organization. They have treated me amazingly, all the players treat me amazing. So far, I have nothing to complain about here.”

Nick Trabacchi, Spencer Bengard and Ruddy Gomez finished up the win with four combined innings of relief. Beloit got a run in the eighth, but Gomez pitched a perfect ninth with two strikeouts to end it and get the save.

Beloit won Tuesday night’s Game 1, 7-1, with the Kernels completely unable to take advantage of constant baserunning traffic. That changed Thursday.

“No matter who has been in uniform this year, that’s what this group has shown,” Meyer said. “The resilience to keep playing, absorb a punch and punch back as hard as we can.”

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