Rivas the Hero, Captains Walk-Off Kernels 4-3

Eastlake, OH - In a tied game with the bases loaded and one out in the ninth, Kevin Rivas lined a single into left field, lifting the Captains to a 4-3 walk-off win over Cedar Rapids Saturday night.

In game five of the set, Cedar Rapids got on the board first. In the top of the third, Misael Urbina opened the inning with a double, and two batters later, he came home to score on a Walker Jenkins RBI single to put the Kernels on top 1-0.

It stayed that way until the fourth inning, thanks to the performance of Cedar Rapids starter Connor Prielipp. The lefty did not allow a run or a hit across his three innings of work, with five strikeouts to begin the game.

In the fourth, with Prielipp out of the game, the Captains grabbed the lead. A single and two walks loaded the bases with one out for Rivas, who tied the game with an RBI base hit. Two batters later, Lake County took the lead on an Angel Genao two-run double to make it 3-1.

The Kernels got a run back in the sixth frame. With one out, Kaelen Culpepper ripped a solo home run to left, his first as a Kernels to make it 3-2.

That stayed the score until the top of the ninth. Nate Baez worked a walk to open the inning and was pinch run for by Kyle Hess. After Hess moved to second on a wild pitch, he scored to tie the game at 3-3 on a Rubel Cespedes pinch-hit double.

With the game still tied in the bottom of the ninth, Lake County loaded the bases on a single and a pair of walks. With one out, Rivas lined the game-winning hit into left field, lifting the Captains to the 4-3 walk-off win.

The loss drops the Kernels to 64-59 on the season and 27-32 in the second half. Cedar Rapids wraps up its 12-game Ohio road trip Sunday at 12:00 with Ricky Castro on the mound opposite Dylan DeLucia.