CEDAR RAPIDS, IA – Je’Von Ward got to save the game with his bat for the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Friday night at Perfect Game Field. The Timber Rattlers designated hitter, who had three hits in the game, broke a 2-2 tie with a three-run triple in the top of the ninth inning on the way to a 6-2 victory over the Cedar Rapids Kernels. Ward also scored two runs and extended his team-high hitting streak to eight games as he stayed hot on an unseasonably cold evening in East Central Iowa.
David Hamilton tripled on the first pitch of the game for Wisconsin (10-11). Kernels starting pitcher Matt Canterino stranded Hamilton at third as he set down the next nine Wisconsin hitters in a row, including seven via the strikeout. Canterino struck out ten over four innings before leaving the game.
Rattlers starting pitcher Victor Castañeda retired the first twelve Kernels he faced before giving up a lead-off double and a walk to start the bottom of the fifth. He got out of the inning with a foul pop, a diving stop of a grounder in shallow right by second baseman Hayden Cantrelle, and a strikeout to keep the game scoreless.
Castañeda had to pitch around another lead-off double in the sixth inning, but did so by retiring the side and stranding the runner at second. Castañeda then did something no Timber Rattlers starting pitcher had done to this point of the season. He went back out for the seventh inning and retired the two batters he was asked to get. Castañeda went 6-2/3 innings, allowed two hits, walked one, and struck out eight. The eight strikeouts for Castañeda matched his single-game high as a professional.
Wisconsin broke through in the top of the eighth inning. Korry Howell singled with one out, stole second, and went to third on a throwing error. Then, Ward lined a single up the middle to score Howell for a 1-0 lead.
Later in the eighth, Carlos Rodríguez added to the Rattlers lead with a single to left to score Ward.
The Kernels (9-12) tied the game in the bottom of the eighth without a hit. Reliever John LaRossa got the first out of the inning, but walked back-to-back hitters on close 3-2 pitches. Evan Reifert took over for LaRossa to make his Timber Rattlers debut and walked the first batter he faced to load the bases. Then, he walked Seth Gray and Wander Javier to force in the runs to let Cedar Rapids tie the game 2-2.
Brady Schanuel became the third Wisconsin pitcher of the inning and escaped the inning with a strikeout and another great defensive play by Cantrelle.
In the top of the ninth, Wisconsin had runners at second and third with one out, but the lead run was cut down on a play at the plate on a grounder to short off the bat of Howell. Cantrelle kept the inning alive when he drew a walk off Jordan Gore to load the bases.
Kernels reliever Melvi Acosta was brought into the game and Ward ripped the first pitch from Acosta down the first base line and into the corner in right for a bases-clearing triple and a 5-2 lead. A passed ball a few pitches later allowed Ward to score for a 6-2 advantage.
Schanuel went back out to pitch the bottom of the ninth and retired the first two batters he faced. A two-out walk extended the game, but Schanuel ended the game by getting a grounder to short to secure the victory,
The Timber Rattlers and Kernels will resume the series with a doubleheader on Saturday night to make up the game that was rained out on Thursday night. Game one of the twinbill is set to start at 5:05pm.
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