Written by Thursday was “Opening Day” for minor league teams across the country and I took advantage of the opportunity to watch the Twins’ Class A affiliate in the Midwest League, the Beloit Snappers, open their season on the road here in Cedar Rapids against the Kernels.
Beloit Snappers Opening Night 2010
Let me just say, I really intended to catch 6-7 innings and then head home to watch the Twins and Angels by the time they got things going out in California. But with the Snappers and Kernels locked in a scoreless contest, there’s no way I was leaving until the game was decided. That happened, finally, in the 10th inning on a Michael Gonzales single that drove in Brian Dozier with the first run of the game, followed immediately by Derek McCallum scoring an insurance run on a throwing error by the Kernels’ Casey Haerther.
Truth be told, however, the game never should have made it to extra innings. Beloit loaded the bases with one out in the top of the sixth inning with a single by 3B Anderson Hidalgo, a double by RF Angel Morales, and an intentional walk to Aaron Hicks. That’s when Kernels relief pitcher Buddy Boshers uncorked a wild pitch and Hidalgo broke for home. Yes, the plate umpire called Hidalgo out, but you be the judge…
Anderson Hidalgo leads off 3B and Angel Morales is at 2B
Anderson Hidalgo is... out? Yeah... that was the call. Resulting in a scoreless tie headed to extra innings
Snappers pitchers struck out 15 Kernels over the 10 innings. Which is impressive… but not quite as impressive as the 16 K’s tallied by Kernels pitching. Derek McCallum wins some sort of award, I suppose, by virtue of being the only Snapper NOT to strike out, as he doubled in the 2nd inning, grounded to the first baseman in the 5th, and flew out to left field in the 7th, before being hit by a pitch in the 10th and eventually scoring the Snappers’ second run. Michael Gonzales was the sole Snapper with more than one hit, going 2-4, including a single that drove in the game winning run in the 1oth.
Liam Hendriks dominated for his five innings. Michael Gonzales (at 1B) was the only Snapper with more than one hit.
Liam Hendriks struck out 7 Kernels in 5 innings of work, including 5 of the final 6 hitters he faced. Tom Stuifbergen relieved Hendriks in the 6th and barely missed a beat as he recorded three strikeouts, sandwiched around a single, in his one inning of relief.
Tom Stuifbergen struck out three in his sole inning on the mound.
On a personal note, let me just say, for the benefit of those of you considering a visit to Target Field later this month… 10 innings of baseball in temperatures that drop below 40 degrees during the course of a game makes for a very cold evening! By all means, don’t let it dissuade you from going to the game, but dress appropriately!
To wrap up this post, just a few more pictures from Opening Night in Cedar Rapids…
Snappers Catcher Danny Rams
Angel Morales and Anderson Hidalgo before the game
Aaron Hicks robs Eric Oliver of a hit in the 5th inning.
Brian Dozier scores the game's first run in the top of the 10th.
Snappers are 1-0!
Yes... I stayed through the entire 10 innings, despite the 37 degree weather
Awesome! Thanks for the pictures and report–and good work staying through all 10 innings and keeping score in the chilly weather!
nice story!
one of my goals this summer is to make a trek to Beloit to watch a game. But Cedar Rapids is a closer trip. Maybe I’ll go there
Come on down, James! The Kernels host the Snappers for three series this season (as opposed to just two last year and, as I recall, only one series in 2008!). I’m not going to be able to get out to the remaining games in this series tonight and Saturday afternoon, but the Snappers return to town for a Tue-Thu series June 15-17 and a Sat-Mon series August 7-9. We’ve got a nice, relatively new, ballpark in Cedar Rapids and the Angels have done a great job of making sure the Kernels are competitive every year. The Twins almost always send some of their top prospects to Beloit, so the games between the two teams are generally very competitive.
I’d love to host a group of my Twins friends at a game or two!
What a great looking ballpark.. DEFINITELY want to work up a visit Cedar Rapids this summer even if it’s not when the Snappers are there.. That looks like fun but I’m not sure that I would have gone in the cold – you are hard core!