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Last night at Perfect Game Field at Veteran’s Memorial Stadium, the Cedar Rapids Kernels played their Home Opener in front of a crowd of 1,732. After a short delay, the hometown team gave the crowd what they would look for, a lot of great action and a win to improve to 4-0. Here are some notes and quotes from Cedar Rapids Opening Night:First, I made the long trek down to Cedar Rapids, in part, because I really do enjoy the experience. Perfect Game Field is tremendous. The grass was green, and the game-experience is wonderful for a fan. As is done in minor league stadiums across the country, there are games and give-aways between innings. They make it a lot of fun. If you live in the southern Twin Cities area, you’re looking at about a four hour drive to Cedar Rapids. And it’s easy. Just take 35W south for about 150 miles. Around Mason City, you exit onto 27 South and take that for 50 miles or so. Then 218 South, followed by 380 south. All of these are four-lane highways so the drive is really easy and smooth. As always, it’s great to get there and be greeted by Tommy Watkins. I watched the Kernels take batting practice and as they were just about done, it began to sprinkle. The Kernels quickly finished batting practice, and then the grounds crew got the tarp on the infield. It never really rained hard. In fact, the Beloit Snappers players got their stretching in and played catch on the outfield grass. They just took batting practice in the cages under the stadium. Looking at the radar, it was clear that there would be clouds and sprinkles until about 4:00 (scheduled game time), but then there would be nothing after that. Radar proved very accurate. The tarp came off the infield around 3:45 and the Kernels grounds crew had the field ready for player introductions at about 4:15. There is a grill down the left field line that I would definitely recommend if you get to a Kernels game this spring or summer. You can get burgers, hot dogs, brats, chicken, pork and more right off the grill. You can then add toppings. I added fire-roasted peppers and onions, some jalapenos and mushrooms on top of mine. Excellent! Oh yeah, the game and baseball stuff. There was a game that was played and it was a good game. Michael Cederoth made the start for the Kernels. He had a scoreless first inning with two groundouts and a strikeout. The Kernels scored once in the first inning. Zach Granite led off with a ground ball to shortstop that he beat out. The shortstop was charged with an error because he had to rush. My personal opinion is that he would have beat out the throw anyway. He stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Zack Larson grounded out to third but it scored Granite to give the Kernels the lead. After a Jorge Fernandez walk, Tyler Kuresa doubled down the left-field line to score the speedy Fernandez. The Snappers had the bases loaded in the second inning on a single, a walk and a bunt. Cederoth did a nice job to get out of the inning, allowing just one run. The inning’s fourth batter hit a slow grounder down the first base line. Tyler Kuresa fielded it, looked home but there was no play there, and he tagged out the batter running down the line. The Kernels second inning was their big inning, though it didn’t start out looking like the team would score. Jhonatan Hinojosa lined a single to center field. Unfortunately, he was caught stealing. The next batter struck out. With two outs, Tanner English singled to right field. He stole second and advanced to third base on a balk. Zach Granite walked and stole second base. Nick Gordon was hit by a two-strike pitch to load the bases. Zach Larson put together a really good at-bat that ended with a line drive double down the right-field line. Sidenote – Nick Gordon may not be as fast as his brother Dee, but watching him go from first to home showed that he can run really well. Cederoth got through four innings. He gave up just one run on three hits. He walked three and struck out three. However, he was done after four innings because he was already over 80 pitches. He had a lot of three-ball counts. In the first inning, he was throwing between 94 and 96 with the fastball. He also has a really good curveball. Of the Twins third-round pick in 2014, manager Jake Mauer said, “Cederoth was OK. He threw some really good breaking balls early in the game that weren’t called strikes. He’s working on some things. But if he can gain control, he can be really good. But, that’s why he’s here.” Lefty Sam Clay, the Twins 2014 fourth-round pick, came on for the fifth inning. He walked the first batter and then threw a wild pitch. He walked the second batter. He got an out on a ground ball, but then walked another batter to load the bases. Snappers third baseman Edwin Diaz doubled to score two more runs and cut the lead to 5-3. That was the end of the line for Clay. Zach Tillery, Twins 13th round pick last year, came on to play hero for the team. He got a strikeout before getting the final out on a ground ball. He then got nine out of the next ten batters out and completed 3.2 innings of shutout relief. “I got through it pretty well. That first inning, I let it go a little bit. I was pretty tired the rest of the way.” According to Mauer, Tillery entered spring training with an opportunity to start, “He was in the mix to start this spring, but with the trickle down all the way up, we decided to move him to the bullpen.” Tillery is just fine with that decision. “I started the year this year as a starter. A week and a half ago, our pitching coach Henry Bonilla said, ‘Hey man, you’re going to throw out of the pen.’ I did that in college, so that’s good.” Tillery says he throws “a fastball, a cutter, traditional breaking ball and a changeup.” Mauer said that Tillery will likely get a chance to start at some time this season. For his part, Tillery is just fine with his role right now. “Right now, I’m just trying to help the team win. That’s all I’m worried about. They can throw me out of the pen. They can have me close. They can do whatever they want. I’ll go play third base, for all I care.” The score remained 5-3 Kernels until the bottom of the eighth inning when the Kernels grabbed some insurance runs. With one out, Jhonatan Hinojosa and Brian Navarreto hit back-to-back singles. Tanner English bunted to advance them to second and third. Zach Granite came up with a big double to right center that scored two runs. It was a “normal” single, but he turned it into a double. When I asked Granite if he’s always thinking double, he said, “Oh yeah. I’m thinking triple out of the box. I stop at second because they throw it in, but yeah, I’m always thinking extra bases. There’s nothing better than a double. I like having extra base hits.” Lefty Cameron Booser came on for the ninth inning. He was a little nervous and walked the first batter. However, he struck out the next three. He has two pitches and both are excellent. His fastball sat between 95 and 96 mph and he touched 99 with one pitch. He also had a mid-80s slider. Even more impressive than his arm? His mustache! Following Sunday Kernels games, the Kernels players go out to the outfield grass. Fans are able to go down on the field and get autographs from the players for 15 to 20 minutes. At the same time, fans can run the bases or play catch in the outfield. Its’ really a pretty neat experience. The Kernels front office staff does a tremendous job of, well, everything. They have great promotions. They make the games great for their fans, and that’s what minor league baseball is about, the fan experience. And, of course, player development. The Kernels team has some really intriguing prospects. Obviously, 2014 top pick Nick Gordon headlines that list. However, there are several other minor leaguers whose names you will read frequently at Twins Daily who have a real chance to advance through the system and someday, maybe, play some games at Target Field. For those of you who live near the Twin Cities and really are Twins fans, I encourage you to make the drive down to Cedar Rapids at least once this summer, if you haven’t already, and check it out. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. Click here to view the article