Wright shows might with 2 homers in Kernels' win over Beloit

CEDAR RAPIDS - Zach Wright wasn't playing that game. He had no idea what his batting statistics were, and didn't even want to hazard a guess.

“It doesn't matter, yet,” the Cedar Rapids Kernels catcher said.

Smart guy. For one thing, Wright only has played in five games since joining the club a week and a half ago.

He's a professional baseball newbie that realizes a lot of bad times go with the good times. Though these are really good times, as Wright homered twice in the Kernels' 9-1 win over Beloit before 2,051 fans Sunday afternoon at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

The kid is nine for his first 20 in Cedar Rapids, a cool .460 average. He's got three dingers, six RBIs, has yet to strike out and is excelling defensively, too.

That's called making an immediate impression.

“He takes control of the game,” Kernels Manager Jamie Burke said. “He calls a great game and is in control out there. He communicates with the pitching staff very well, lets everybody know he's quarterbacking. That's important as a catcher. And he has a nice easy swing, let's the pitchers provide the power. He had a nice day.”

Wright, who has been battling a minor hamstring injury, is one of four college guys the parent Angels sent to the Kernels after signing them out of the 2012 draft. The 22-year-old North Carolina native was a 12th-round pick out of East Carolina University, six rounds lower than he was taken last year by the Philadelphia Phillies.

Wright didn't like what he perceived to be a lack of money offered by the Phillies, went back to college for his senior season and ended up getting a diploma in business management. He certainly lost a little signing bonus cash with his decision, but “not too much.”

He's just happy to be in an organization where the big-league manager (Mike Scioscia) was a catcher and his manager here was a big-league catcher.

“Me and the Phillies just couldn't come to an understanding,” Wright said. “I didn't want to waste my last year of college for a couple of thousand dollars. I think a high-school guy was asking them for too much money, and they were low-balling me. So I decided to give it another chance at ECU, go back and get my degree. I graduated in May, and that's something I'll have forever.”

The Kernels won their first game of the second half, overcoming starting pitcher Dan Reynolds getting ejected while warming up for the start of the fourth inning after making a gesture to home-plate umpire Ron Teague. Aaron Meade (2-0) came out of the bullpen in an emergency situation and threw three shutout innings to get the win.

Andy Workman also homered for Cedar Rapids (33-40 overall), which begins a three-game home series with Burlington on Monday night at 6:35.

“It was too bad we had our all-star break when we did. We were on a roll, we were hot. But we had those four days off, and the guys just came back a little sluggish. Though we had some good energy. We faced a couple of pitchers who were tough. We came out and swung the bats well today, and that's what we're hoping to continue to do."

Before the game, Cedar Rapids Xavier graduate Mac Mattke was honored as this year's recipient of the Nick Adenhart Memorial Scholarship. The scholarship is given annually to an area prep who excels in athletics and academics, in honor of the former Kernels and Angels pitcher, who was killed in an auto accident three years ago by a drunk driver.

Mattke will study engineering at Purdue, where he also will walk on to the baseball team.

In attendance all three days of the series was Minnesota Twins General Manager Terry Ryan. Beloit is a Twins affiliate.

Here is the game boxscore:

Scoreboard _ Midwest League Scoreboard