Langenberg Charms the Home Crowd, Kernels top Chiefs 6-4

Cedar Rapids, IA - In front of many friends and family members in his first start as a pro in his home state, Ty Langenberg allowed just two runs across five strong innings, picking up the win in a 6-4 Kernels victory over Peoria Saturday night.

After a walk-off loss last night, the Peoria offense wasted no time getting on the board first on Saturday. With two outs in the top of the first inning, three straight hits by Chris Rotondo, Dakota Harris and Brody Moore drove in two Chiefs runs and lifted them ahead 2-0.

But those were the only two runs allowed by Kernels starter Ty Langenberg. In his first home, Cedar Rapids start, back in his home state of Iowa, Langenberg went five innings, allowing two runs on four hits with seven strikeouts and one walk on his way to his second win of the season.

With Langenberg posting zeros on the mound, the Kernels offense got on the board in the bottom of the second inning. To lead off the frame, Nate Baez blasted his eighth home run in 18 games to put the Kernels on the board 2-1.

In the third, a Rayne Doncon one-out triple put a runner on for Ricardo Olivar, who blasted the Kernels in front 3-2 with a two-run home run.

In the fifth, Kyle Hess led off the inning with a single, and two batters later came home on an Olivar double to increase the Cedar Rapids lead to 4-2. Two batters later, Olivar scored on a Kevin Maitan RBI single to up the Kernels lead to 5-2.

Some more insurance was added in the seventh inning. To lead off the frame, Doncon reached and advanced to second on an error. Two batters later, Rubel Cespedes plated him with an RBI single to extend the lead to a game-high 6-2.

Peoria rallied to score twice in the top of the eighth inning before Gabriel Yanez came on out of the Kernels' pen to record the final five outs of the game in the 6-4 Cedar Rapids win.

The win improves the Kernels to 2-0 to begin the second half of the year and to 39-27 overall. The first half of the 12-game homestand concludes Sunday at 1:05 with John Klein on the mound opposite Quinn Matthews.