'Local boy' Haerther tearing it up for Kernels

Local boy does good. Well, Casey Haerther's not really a local boy. He's a tried and true Californian.

But if you haven't heard, the Cedar Rapids Kernels first baseman has extensive Cedar Rapids ties. His dad was born and raised here, and his uncle and grandmother still live here.

As a matter of fact, grandma (Irene Haerther) was waiting for him after last night's ballgame at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

“She has cookies outside for me right now,” Haerther said with a smile.

He earned those treats with two hits, including a three-run home run, as the Kernels ignored a steady rain and sloshed their way past Burlington, 6-4, before 2,212 fans.

Haerther has given his family a lot to be proud of lately. The former UCLA player is 18 for his last 36 to lift a batting average that Mario Mendoza wouldn't have been proud of to over .300.

“If you look back at the beginning of the season, he wasn't striking out a lot. He just wasn't getting hits,” said Kernels hitting coach Brent Del Chiaro. “I tell our guys there are two kinds of slumps. A batting slump is when you're not making contact. A hitting slump is when you're putting the ball in play, but you're not getting hits.”

“I've been working to incorporate my legs more in my swing,” Haerther said. “Coming from college, with those aluminum bats, you don't really have to use your legs much. Me and Delly have been working on it the past month. The first couple weeks, I struggled with it, but now it's coming through ... The ball seems pretty big right now.”

Haerther's turnaround has mirrored that of his team's. The Kernels (18-14) won their fifth straight and their 10th in their last 13 games.

Suddenly, this team is beginning to live up to its considerable preseason hype. Cedar Rapids entered Monday in fourth place in the

Midwest League's Western Division, but just two games behind first-place

Peoria and

Quad Cities.