Kernels celebrate division title - belatedly

CEDAR RAPIDS - You win a first-half division championship for the first time since 1992 and you can't even celebrate it until the next day.

What's up with that?

“There was a bunch of us getting some food, so we found out over dinner last night,” said Cedar Rapids Kernels outfielder Matt Long.

The Kernels swam out of Veterans Memorial Stadium after their double-header Friday night with Burlington was postponed by torrential rain. A couple of hours later, second-place Quad Cities lost and the Kernels' magic number was officially zero.

Midwest League Western Division champs.

Kernels management threw a party for the team and staff on the Miller Mezzanine following last night's double-header with Burlington at Memorial Stadium. But the traditional champaign (or Miller Lite) clubhouse celebration never happened.

“Just grinding every day,” said Kernels outfielder Mike Trout. “Just trying to keep fighting and put wins on the board.”

“We came in and obviously wanted to win the first half,” Long said. “We've been a wildcard team here for the past few years and stuff, so it was important (to get first). Once we found out we were at least in the wildcard, we didn't settle for that. We wanted to keep winning and winning.”

Well, they haven't exactly kept winning and winning. The Kernels (41-25) lost four in a row before winning Game 2 Saturday night, 6-2.

They gave up two unearned seventh-inning runs to lose the opener, 8-6. The first half ends with a single game against Burlington today at 2.

“If we don't start winning, it's not going to feel like it's a real championship,” Trout said after the opener.

But it's still not fair to say this team has backed into a championship. After starting the season 8-12, Cedar Rapids went a torrid 33-12, including a Midwest League-record 19 consecutive wins at home.

They're not the best hitting team in the league or the best pitching team. Their defense has been solid but not necessarily great.

They just won.

“We were talking about that. It's no fluke. We're a good team, and we never play easy,” Long said. “We come out and play hard every day. We had that nice streak at home where we won 19 in a row. We just have a never-give-up kind of mentality. We played hard throughout the whole first half, so I think this is well deserved.”

The MWL All-Star Game on Tuesday in

Fort Wayne. The second half begins Thursday.