(WNFL) CEDAR RAPIDS, IA – The Cedar Rapids Kernels did it to the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers again. Brian Olson’s two-run double in the bottom of the eighth inning brought the Kernels all the way back from a 5-0 deficit to a 6-5 victory on Monday night at Perfect Game Field. This was not the first frustrating loss of the season the Rattlers have suffered at this ballpark
Wisconsin (40-42 overall, 6-6 second half) pounced immediately. Troy Stokes, Jr. started the game with a single. Max McDowell followed with a double. Isan Diaz put the Rattlers up 2-0 with a single that drove in both Stokes and McDowell.The Rattlers added a run in the second. Sthervin Matos stole third and scored on an errant throw to make it 3-0.
Isan Diaz started the Wisconsin third inning with a triple. Jake Gatewood followed with an RBI double to right. Later in the inning, Mitch Ghelfi singled to score Gatewood and the Rattlers were up 5-0. But, the lead would not hold.The Kernels (42-39, 6-6) scored twice in the bottom of the fourth against Wisconsin starting pitcher Miguel Diaz. Zander Wiel drew a walk with one out and went to second on a wild pitch. Nelson Molina got Wiel home with a double to center. JJ Fernandez cut the Rattlers lead to three with a two-out, RBI double to left-center.Cedar Rapids scored twice in the bottom of the fifth against reliever Freddy Peralta to make the score 5-4. Peralta walked Brad Hartong to start the inning. He would walk Sean Miller with one out and commit a balk to allow both runners to move into scoring position. A wild pitch by Peralta allowed Hartong to score and let Miller take third. Then, Luis Arraez tripled to drive in Miller. Peralta escaped the inning with the lead intact on a strikeout and a flyout.In the sixth, the first two Kernels reached against Peralta, but he would get out of the jam with the Rattlers still in front by getting a pair of strikeouts and a grounder to short.Wisconsin was not as lucky in the eighth. Reliever Quintin Torres-Costa got the first out, but threw wildly to first on a grounder up the third base line to allow Chris Ibarra to reach base. Ibarra was replaced by pinch runner Jermaine Palacios. Fernandez worked the count full before sending a single to right that got Palacios around to third base. The Rattlers called on closer Nate Griep, who had converted on 12 straight save opportunities, to get out of the situation.Olson fouled off a couple of two-strike pitches before sending a double to deep center that scored both runners to give the Kernels a 6-5 lead.Stokes singled and McDowell drew a walk against Kuo Hua Lo with one out in the top of the ninth. But, Lo retired the next two batters to close out the game.Wisconsin has lost three straight heartbreakers to the Kernels at Perfect Game Field. The Rattlers led Cedar Rapids 6-0 on May 29 only to lose 9-8 on a walkoff error in the bottom of the ninth. On May 30, the Rattlers tied the Kernels 2-2 on a two-out, two-run home run in the top of the ninth inning by Monte Harrison only to see the Kernels win 3-2 when the winning run scored in the bottom of the ninth on a wild pitch. Monday’s game was the first game of a four-game series between the teams here.
