Canterino’s Career Night Not Enough

DAVENPORT, Iowa – Matt Canterino notched a personal-best nine strikeouts over five innings pitched and left Saturday’s game at Modern Woodmen Park in line for the win, but the Quad Cities River Bandits rallied for a 7-6 walk-off victory versus the Cedar Rapids Kernels.

Canterino, who is rated as the No. 7 prospect in the Minnesota Twins organization, posted a solid start for Cedar Rapids (6-5). He conceded just two runs including one unearned run and registered a new career high in strikeouts featuring at least one strikeout in every inning of work. His five total frames tied a personal best.

A pair of solo shots in the second inning lifted the Kernels to a 2-0 lead. Gabe Snyder led off with a home run to left-center field. Two batters later, Trey Cabbage launched a round-tripper to right-center.

Quad Cities (7-3) pulled even after scoring within the second and the third. Seuly Matias came home via wild pitch to put the River Bandits on the scoreboard. Michael Massey forced the 2-2 tie with a third-inning RBI single.

Cedar Rapids regained the lead during the fourth and secured a 6-2 advantage by the end of the sixth. In the fourth, Snyder and Wander Javier scored on wild pitches, and Michael Helman crushed a solo blast to left-center field. Helman also added an RBI double in the sixth.

The River Bandits tallied the final five runs Saturday en route to their 7-6 walk-off win. Jimmy Govern started the comeback during the seventh with his run-scoring groundout. An error allowed Vinnie Pasquantino to score in the eighth, and Tyler Gentry hit a two-run, game-tying double. Matias completed the contest on his game-winning single within the ninth.

Yohanse Morel (2-0) faced the minimum over three shutout innings and earned his second victory of the series. Jonathan Cheshire (0-2) was charged for the loss after yielding the decisive run.

Cedar Rapids and Quad Cities meet in the series finale Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. at Modern Woodmen Park with Kernels right-hander Andrew Cabezas (1-0, 0.00) and River Bandits left-hander Angel Zerpa (0-0, 3.72) listed as the probable pitchers. Chris Kleinhnas-Schulz will broadcast the game on www.kernels.com.

After the series at Quad Cities, Cedar Rapids will host a 12-game homestand from May 18 through May 30. Fans can purchase tickets for all Cedar Rapids Kernels home games by visiting www.kernels.com, going to the Kernels Ticket Office, or calling (319) 896-7560. The Kernels Ticket Office is open from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Saturdays. On Sundays when the Kernels have a home game, the Kernels Ticket Office will open at 11:00 a.m.