Baddoo, Kirilloff Secure 4-3 Walk-Off Win in 10th

CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA - Aggressive baserunning from Akil Baddoo and a sacrifice fly from Alex Kirilloff pushed the Cedar Rapids Kernels to a 4-3, 10-inning victory in their home opener Saturday against the Quad Cities River Bandits at Perfect Game Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium. Cedar Rapids improved to 2-0 this season and 6-1 over its last seven home openers.
Each half of Saturday's 10th inning began with a runner placed at second base via Minor League Baseball's new pace-of-play regulations. Kernels reliever Ryan Mason picked off that runner within a perfect top of the 10th before Baddoo was placed at second to start the bottom of the 10th. Royce Lewis grounded to third base against a drawn-in Adrian Tovalin, and Baddoo advanced to third around a tag attempt. Kirilloff followed with his walk-off sacrifice fly to give Cedar Rapids the 4-3 win.

Quad Cities (0-2) forced the extra frame after plating the game-tying run during the ninth inning. Gabriel Bracamonte led off with a walk but remained at first base until a two-out wild pitch. An infield single by Jonathan Arauz coupled with an error allowed Bracamonte to even the contest at 3-3.
Cedar Rapids held a 3-2 lead prior to Quad Cities' late tally. Jordan Gore's one-out infield single in the seventh set up the top of the Kernels' lineup. After a fly out by Baddoo, Lewis came through with a two-out double. An error on the play helped Gore reach home plate in time with the go-ahead run.
The scoring opened Saturday with early two-run rallies for each team. The Kernels grabbed a quick 2-0 lead during the bottom of the first when both Baddoo and Lewis scored on Shane Carrier's RBI single coupled with an error. The River Bandits answered in the third with Jacob Meyers and Corey Julks scoring on a wild pitch and an error, respectively.
Mason (1-0) earned his first Kernels victory with a scoreless 10th inning that included a pickoff and a strikeout. Peter Solomon (0-1) allowed two unearned runs over 4,1 innings pitched and took the loss for the River Bandits.
This series wraps up Sunday at 2:05 p.m. with Kernels right-hander Blayne Enlow (0-0, -.--) slated to pitch against River Bandits right-hander Yohan Ramirez (0-0, -.--). Chris Kleinhans-Schulz will call the action on 1450 KMRY AM and 93.1 KMRY FM and also online at www.kmryradio.com and www.kernels.com.
All fans will receive a Kernels 2018 Magnet Schedule sponsored by Wells Fargo. Western Fraternal Life Kids Eat Free Sunday includes a voucher for kids aged 12 and under to receive a free hot dog, popcorn, and Capri Sun. Fans are invited to run the bases after Sunday home games courtesy of Prairie Farms and media sponsor 104.5 KDAT. Travel Advisors Baseball Bingo features a chance to win a trip to see a Minnesota Twins game in Minneapolis, Papa Balloon and Face Painting by Kennedy are also on tap.
Fans can purchase tickets for all Cedar Rapids home games by visiting www.kernels.com, going to the Kernels Ticket Office, or calling (319) 896-7560. The Kernels Ticket Office is open Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. On Sundays when the Kernels have a home game, the Kernels Ticket Office will open at 11:00 a.m.