Cedar Rapids Kernels win MWL Western Division championship

CEDAR RAPIDS - They had to play two and win two to get one.

The Cedar Rapids Kernels did just that Thursday night.

They got a strong group pitching performance for a 2-0 win over Beloit in the first game of a key Midwest League double-header at ABC Supply Stadium in Beloit, Wis. They came from behind in the nightcap, getting a go-ahead two-run home run from Kaelen Culpepper in the fifth inning for a 5-4 win that clinched at least a share of the Western Division first-half championship and a playoff berth in September.

It became an outright title later, as Quad Cities lost its first-half finale, 5-4, to Lansing in extra innings. QC went into Thursday with a half-game lead on Cedar Rapids for first place.

Had the teams tied, the Kernels would have won the first-half tiebreaker because it had a superior record in the final 20 games of the half. Incredibly, Cedar Rapids and Quad Cities did not play at all in the first 66 games of the 132-game MWL season.

“Winning is never easy,” said Kernels Manager Brian Meyer. “I told the guys after the game that every single one of them ... they have overcome a lot of adversity, both on and off the field. They persevered, they keep playing the game the right way, and they got rewarded for it.”

The Kernels (40-26) got a two-run home run from Brandon Winokur in the first inning of Game 1. Those were the only runs of the game, as C.R. pitchers Alejandro Hidalgo, Kade Bragg and Paulshawn Pasqualotto combined for a four-hit shutout.

Hidalgo threw the first three innings, Bragg the next two (for the win) and Pasqualotto the final two (for the save).

Beloit ran to a 4-1 lead through four innings of the nightcap, but the Kernels rallied for a four spot in the fifth. Poncho Ruiz brought home two runs with a double down the left-field line that brought C.R. within 4-3, then with two outs, Culpepper drove a high breaking ball over the fence in left-center field to put the Kernels on top, 5-4.

Culpepper, a first-round draft pick last July out of Kansas State University, was promoted to Double-A Wichita after the double-header.

Chase Chaney (5-1) pitched two outs into the sixth inning to pick up the pitching win, with Samuel Perez throwing a shutout inning and Hunter Hoopes the save. He got a groundball out to first base with Beloit runners on the corners in the bottom of the seventh to end the game.

Quad Cities led the division virtually the entire first half. Cedar Rapids had to overcome a litany of injuries to important players and a couple of promotions to worthy players.

The second half of the MWL season begins Thursday. This is the 11th time in 12 years as an affiliate of the Minnesota Twins that the Kernels have been a playoff qualifier.

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