An auspicious debut

CEDAR RAPIDS - Leadoff hitter Alex Yarbrough stepped into the batter's box and reminded himself he was just two weeks removed from the end of his college season.

“Once you get out on the field, you realize it's just baseball,” said Yarbrough, 20. “It's the same game you've been playing, just at a higher level.”

A fourth-round pick in last week's draft out of Ole Miss, Yarbrough tripled, singled from both sides of the plate, walked, scored twice, and drove in a run as the Cedar Rapids Kernels blanked the Burlington Bees Thursday night, 8-0, before 4,102 fans at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

“I wanted to be aggressive, I like to be an aggressive hitter,” Yarbrough said of his first pro at-bat. “I was hoping he (Burlington starter Max Perlman) was going to put a fastball somewhere in the zone, and I was going to swing hard and see what the best that could happen was.”

The best was a towering opposite-field triple into the left field gap on the first pitch. Yarbrough scored two batters later on a single by Kaleb Cowart for the first run of the game and his career.

If this ends up being his final game in Cedar Rapids because of a promotion, Cowart went out in style with four hits and four RBIs.

“I enjoyed it here,” Cowart said. “I enjoyed the fans, I enjoyed everything about it.”

Cedar Rapids starting pitcher Cam Bedrosian (2-5) won his second straight decision, combining with three relievers for a shutout. Bedrosian struck out seven, with at least one in each of his five innings. Catcher Zach Wright hit his first professional home run, a solo shot in the eighth inning.

Gary Mitchell returned to the lineup, replacing starting pitcher Jairo Diaz on the roster, who was placed on the DL since his next start will not come until after the All-Star break.

Cedar Rapids (29-38) wraps up the first half of the Midwest League season on the road.