Soto the hero as Kernels rally to win home opener

CEDAR RAPIDS -- Wendell Soto's little league moment came in the fifth inning.

The Cedar Rapids Kernels shortstop camped under as routine a popup as you'll ever see, waited for the baseball to settle into his glove for the third out ... and dropped it. An embarrassing error.

"Oh, my gosh," Soto said. "I don't think I've ever done that in my life. I honestly have never done that in my life."

Thank goodness his big league moment came just an inning later. Soto's no-doubt-about-it two-run home run to right field provided the winning runs as the Kernels toppled Clinton, 7-6, before 1,885 fans on opening night at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

You've got to have a short memory in this game, and this was really short.

"It was like 'Wow, this is the worst game I've ever played,'" said Soto. "I had to make up for it somehow, so I hit that home run."

"When he came in, I told him 'Hey, it didn't hurt us. No runs scored, so there's no reason to think about it,'" said Kernels Manager Jamie Burke. "It was done and over with, so, hey, let's get something going on. You've got three or four more innings to go, so finish strong. He knows it was kind of a brain fart. He just kind of took his eye off the ball. It happens."

Quite a comeback for the Kernels, who trailed early, 6-1.

They played a horrible third inning, committing three errors as Clinton scored five times. But the LumberKings returned the generosity an inning later as Cedar Rapids closed within 6-4.

A long homer to right by Frazier Hall made it a one-run game in fifth. Trevor Hairgrove singled with two outs in the sixth, then Soto picked on an 0-2 offering from losing reliever Brett Shankin for just his third career longball in two-plus seasons of pro ball.

"I tell these kids that I don't care if you get down early, just keep playing the game," Burke said. "Don't give up on it because anything can happen ... Just keep doing your job. Don't let it affect the rest of the game."

Carmine Giardina, Jacob Negrete and Ty Kelley threw 4 1/3 scoreless innings in relief of starter Jairo Diaz to give their team a shot at a comeback. The Kernels have won three of four to begin the season, with the only loss coming Sunday at Wisconsin when they gave up four ninth-inning runs.

"I think we've done a good job," Hall said. "We've played together well, that's one of the big keys. The way we pick each other up. An infielder may bobble one or something, then he comes back in and gets a clutch hit ... When you're constantly picking each other up like that, that's the sign of a good team."

Here is a copy of the game boxscore:

Scoreboard _ Midwest League Scoreboard

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