The South Bend Cubs (49-34) won their series finale against the Cedar Rapids Kernels (35-49) by a 5-2 score on Sunday afternoon at Veterans Memorial Stadium. South Bend enters the All-Star break with a 4-2 series victory and the best overall record in the Midwest League West Division.
Click here to view Sunday’s box score.
No. 15 Chicago Cubs Jostin Florentino continued his recent success as South Bend’s starting pitcher on Sunday, striking out six in 4.0 strong innings. The only run to score against the right-hander occurred on a home run in the second inning, as shortstop Jose Salas cranked a solo shot to right field. Salas finished the series with a home run in three consecutive games, grounding into an inning-ending double play to end Florentino’s outing in the bottom of the fourth.
Before the Salas home run, the Cubs put a couple of runs on the board, scoring in each of the day’s first two innings. South Bend made the Kernels pay for leadoff walks all day long, as right fielder Christian Olivo walked and stole third to lead off the game against No. 5 Minnesota Twins prospect Dasan Hill. Left fielder Jose Escobar drove in Olivo with a groundout, giving the Cubs a 1-0 lead right away. In the second inning, first baseman Miguel Useche led off with a walk before stealing both second and third. He’d come home on a wild pitch to double South Bend’s early advantage.
Neither team scored again until the sixth inning, as righty relievers Xavier Kolhosser and Eli Jerzembeck traded scoreless frames. While Jerzembeck departed with 2.0 shutout innings, Kolhosser ran out of steam in the top of the sixth, allowing two runs on a pair of walks with nobody out. Shortstop Angel Cepeda brought in the Cubs’ third run, pulling a single through the left side, and Useche followed with an RBI groundout to make it 4-1.
South Bend center fielder Kane Kepley took over for the next portion of the game, making an elite defensive play to start the bottom of the sixth inning. Second baseman Andy Lugo led off with a single and tried to stretch it into a double, but Kepley, with all of his momentum fading toward the left-field wall, spun and made a perfect throw to cut him down a second. Kepley then ripped an RBI triple to left-center in the top of the seventh, cashing in another leadoff walk.
Left-hander Cole Reynolds wrapped up the game on the mound for South Bend, pitching 3.0 solid innings to earn his first save of the season. Cedar Rapids scored a run against him on third baseman Henry Kusiak’s RBI double in the bottom of the seventh, but the Kernels never batted the tying run while Reynolds was out there, going down quietly in the final two frames.
When the All-Star break concludes, the Cubs will begin a nine-game homestand, their only homestand of July and their longest homestand of the second half. The Peoria Chiefs will visit South Bend for three games next weekend, beginning with a 7:05 PM first pitch on Friday, July 17. Then, the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers will come in for six games the following week, making their first trip to Four Winds Field in 2026.