West Michigan wins Game 2, sweeps Cedar Rapids Kernels for Midwest League championship

CEDAR RAPIDS - Sometimes the best team does win it all.

The West Michigan Whitecaps were the best team in the Midwest League this baseball season record wise. They were the best team in the entire minor leagues record wise.

One of the best teams in the minor leagues record wise in a long time.

They beat the Cedar Rapids Kernels, 3-1, Tuesday night at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Game 2 of the MWL Championship Series, sweeping the best-of-3 set. It’s the franchise’s first title since 2015, when it beat the Cedar Rapids in a winner-take-all fifth game, ironically, at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

West Michigan finished with an absurd overall record of 97-39, playoffs included. Here’s to the champs because they were deserving.

“Whenever you starting talking about it, you look back at the overall record, it’s just mind boggling,“ said Whitecaps Manager Tony Cappuccilli. ”Even historically good teams don’t have (this). Just amazing what these guys did.“

On the other side, it was another terrific season for the Kernels. Finishing runner-up ain’t awful.

They finished 76-61 overall, playoffs included, winning the Western Division first-half championship to get into the postseason for the 11th time in 12 years as an affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They rallied last week to wins Game 2 and 3 at home to oust Beloit in the division championship series.

This team played hard all season, moved its share of guys to Double-A and overcame an inordinate amount of injuries. You’ll surely see 2025 Kernels like Kaelen Culpepper in the big leagues someday.

Most likely a few others.

“Obviously it stings a little bit,” said Kernels Manager Brian Meyer. “Anytime you get this far, one team is going to win, one team is going to lose. These guys have nothing to hang their heads about.

“Coming into the season, you ask a couple of things from the guys. One, is to be a pro, to work everyday at your craft. And, two, to go compete every night. Whether a player got here in April or they got here in August, the group as a whole did that. As a manager, that’s all you can ask for.”

West Michigan won Sunday afternoon’s Game 1 in suburban Grand Rapids, Mich., 5-3, coming from behind in a game Cedar Rapids led after three innings, 3-0. Game 2 was equally as frustrating.

The Kernels had so many opportunities to score runs that they couldn’t cash in.

Kyle DeBarge led off the bottom of the first with a triple to left-center, but C.R. didn’t score. It got a leadoff double from Poncho Ruiz in the third but didn’t score.

They loaded the bases in the sixth inning but a strikeout ending that potential rally.

“I thought we gave them everything that they could handle,” Meyer said. “And they handled it. We had our opportunities tonight and Sunday. The balls just didn’t find green, and that’s baseball. If you can go to bed at night and look yourself in the mirror and know that you gave everything you had, that’s it right there. I feel like our group from April 4th to September 16th, we did that. Like I said, he have nothing to hang our heads about.”

The eighth inning was he punch in the biggest punch in the gut.

Billy Amick and Danny DeAndrade singled leading off. After a groundout to third base advanced the runners, Caden Kendle was hit by a pitch by struggling West Michigan reliever Moises Rodriguez to load ‘em up.

A wild pitch scored Amick and moved DeAndrade and Kendle ahead. The Whitecaps brought in a new reliever (Carlos Lequerica), who walked Ruiz to reload the bases.

But Lequerica threw Jaime Ferrer strike one then got him to wrap into an inning-ending double play. Major threat over, pretty much game over.

Cedar Rapids went 1-2-3 in the ninth, and that was that.

“I thought there was a lot of growth this year,” Meyer said, in his first season managing the Kernels after a stint managing low-Class A Fort Myers. “From players, from staff, from myself. It just hurts when it’s over. Whether you get to the playoffs or you didn’t get to the playoffs, it always hurts when it’s over. Because whenever you put this uniform on, you are passionate about baseball, and when you come down to it, your jobs.

“Life is such a reflection of baseball, in terms of overcoming adversity. Dealing with things when they don’t go your way and showing up the next day. I think this group as a whole, we did that every day.”

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