Headrick and Festa Shove as Kernels Take Finale from Lake County
May 22, 2022 - Midwest League (MWL)
Cedar Rapids Kernels News Release
Cedar Rapids, IA - Brent Headrick and David Festa carved through the Lake County lineup on Sunday afternoon as the Cedar Rapids Kernels took the series finale 6-1 over the Captains. Christian Encarnacion-Strand blasted a three-run homer to lead the lineup in an early outburst to support the strong pitching, while Jair Camargo had a multi-hit game in the win. The Kernels improve to 26-13 on the season, holding a one-game lead over the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers.
Headrick attacked the strike zone throughout his outing, firing 36 strikes on 52 pitches and working to a 70.6% first-pitch strike rate. He allowed just three hits and a walk over 4.1 innings and extended his scoreless streak to 20.1 frames.
Anthony Prato used some stellar baserunning to put the Kernels on top early, drawing a leadoff walk in the first and stealing second. He made a great read on a two-out dirt ball to advance to third, drawing an errant throw that allowed him to cross home for the game's first run.
An inning later, Will Holland drew a two-out walk followed by a Prato double smoked into right to put two men on for Encarnacion-Strand. The Kernels' third baseman crushed a 419-foot home run to deep left-center, making it 4-0 Cedar Rapids.
The Kernels would tack on two more in the third after loading the bases with two away for Holland, as their centerfielder legged out an infield single with an airmailed throw that brought in a second run.
Festa took over for Headrick in the fifth and earned the win in his High-A debut, going the final 4.2 frames and allowing a lone run on three hits and zero walks. The gas-throwing righthander struck out six and piled up 12 whiffs on 67 pitches, ramping the fastball up to 98 miles per hour.
The Kernels are off Monday before beginning a six-game series against Wisconsin on Tuesday at 6:35 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
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