Dayton Spoils Kernels Home Opener, Tops Cedar Rapids 7-4

Cedar Rapids, IA - Dayton scores four runs in the top of the third inning and never looks back, topping Cedar Rapids 7-4 in the 2024 Kernels home opener.

With fans returning to Cedar Rapids for the start of the 2024 season, it didn’t take long for Dayton to switch the momentum. To lead off the game, Jay Allen lined a solo home run over the wall in left field to put the Dragons on top 1-0 in the top in the first inning.

Cedar Rapids rallied to get that run right back. With two outs in the bottom of the first, Ricardo Olivar worked a walk, and the next batter, Danny De Andrade, smashed a double in the right-center gap, scoring Olivar all the way from first to tie the game at 1-1.

After a scoreless second inning, Dayton grabbed the lead right back in the top of the third. A walk and a hit by pitch began the inning, and after a strikeout, Cam Collier deposited an RBI single into right field to make it 2-1 Dragons. The next batter, Hector Rodriguez, then ripped a two-run triple into left to extend the Dayton lead to 4-1. After Rodriguez later scored on an error, the Dayton lead was 5-1.

It stayed that way until the bottom of the fifth inning. With one out, Misael Urbina lined a single, and with one on, Rubel Cespedes crushed his first Cedar Rapids home run, a two-run shot to right to cut the Dayton lead in half now at 5-3.

But that was the closest the Kernels got. A Carlos Jorge solo home run in the sixth inning made it a three-run game, and after a hit by pitch, single and throwing error produced another Dragons run, Dayton led 7-3 headed into the bottom of the ninth inning.

After two quick outs in the bottom of the ninth, Jay Harry crushed a solo home run to bring the Kernels back within three runs at 7-4. An Urbina walk and a Cespedes single then brought the tying run to the plate, but a pop out ended the contest in a 7-4 Dayton win.

The loss drops the Kernels to 0-3 on the season. Cedar Rapids looks to pick up its first win of the year in the second game of the series tomorrow. Zebby Matthews makes his 2024 Kernels debut on the mound opposite Johnathan Harmon at 6:35.