CEDAR RAPIDS, IA – A five-run lead in the early innings slowly evaporated for the West Michigan Whitecaps as part of a 7-5 loss to the Cedar Rapids Kernels on Thursday at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
The Whitecaps, who had scored a total of five runs in the first two games of this series, tallied five runs over the first two innings, only to see the Kernels score in every inning from the third through the eighth. The loss extends the Whitecaps losing streak to five games, whose record falls to .500 at 12-12.
The ‘Caps opened the scoring just four batters into the contest when shortstop Bryce Rainer bounced a run-scoring single to give West Michigan its first run and a 1-0 lead. Later in the frame, Clayton Campbell launched an opposite-field home run, his second homer of the 2026 campaign, to extend the lead to 3-0. One inning later, RBI singles by Cristian Santana and Ricardo Hurtado tacked on additional runs to push the ‘Caps lead to 5-0. The next three innings saw Cedar Rapids slowly climb back into the contest with two runs in a third frame highlighted by an RBI Double from Jaime Ferrer before infielder Rayne Doncon launched a solo home run in the fourth. In the following frame, a run-scoring single by Jay Thomason highlighted a two-run inning to even the score at five. In the sixth, Kernels shortstop Marek Houston launched an opposite-field, go-ahead solo home run to help Cedar Rapids take its first lead of the night at 6-5 before Doncon added an insurance run with a single in the seventh to conclude the scoring and send West Michigan to its fifth straight defeat.
The Whitecaps record falls to an even 12-12, while the Kernels climb closer to .500 at 11-13. Kernels pitcher Ivran Romero tossed a scoreless inning out of the bullpen in collecting his second win of the season, while ‘Caps righty Thomas Bruss (0-1) took the loss in his West Michigan debut. Eston Stull pitched sensationally out of the bullpen, hurling three scoreless frames without allowing a hit and striking out six to earn his first save of the year. West Michigan outfielder, and former local star at Portage Northern HS, Nolan McCarthy left the game with an unspecified injury in the sixth inning. The ‘Caps collected just one of their nine base hits past the third inning.
UP NEXT
West Michigan and Cedar Rapids are schedule to tangle in the fourth game of this six-game series on Friday night beginning at 7:05pm. Righty Rayner Castillo gets the start for the ‘Caps against the Kernels Michael Ross. Broadcast coverage with Dan Hasty begins on the Whitecaps Baseball Network at 6:50pm on 106.1 FM ‘The Ticket’, and 1340 WJRW-AM in Grand Rapids, or listen to all the action on whitecapsbaseball.com.