DAVENPORT, IOWA (May 13, 2021) — Playing in front of fans at Modern Woodmen Park for the first time in over 600 days, the Quad Cities River Bandits road a surge of offense, including six extra-base hits, to a 12-5 win over the Cedar Rapids Kernels in their 2021 home-opener on Tuesday, May 11.
After both starters faced the minimum in the first inning, it was the visitors who struck first against Quad Cities’ Opening Day starter, Angel Zerpa, as a two-run homer from Gabe Snyder put his team up 2-0 early on.
With Zerpa rebounding and stranding a man in scoring-position in the top of the third, the River Bandits responded with some pop of their own, coming from Eric Cole and William Hancock doubles that scored one and set up for Nick Loftin’s RBI triple that had Kernel’s starter Ben Gross returning to his dugout in the fourth now in a 3-2 hole.
After homering twice during the week in South Bend, Vinnie Pasquantino unloaded a solo bomb into the Mississippi River in the bottom of the fourth to double-up the score to 4-2 heading into the fifth.
With Zerpa’s pitch count at 87 4.2 innings into the game, Chris Widger made the move to Will Klein, who against the first batter he faced, allowed a two-out/two-run shot from Seth Gray to tie the game at 4-4.
But in the bottom of the sixth, Quad Cities batted around and used an RBI double from Nathan Eaton and a bases-clearing from Hancock to tag newly-entered Zach Featherstone for four runs in just 0.2 innings and ballooned the score to 8-4.
Yohanse Morel and Tyler Palm put together a scoreless inning in the seventh, but then the River Bandits posted their second-four run frame in the eighth that saw a sac-fly from Hancock, good for his fourth RBI, and RBI singles from John Rave and Michael Massey which resulted in every member of Quad Cities order reaching base in the game.
Supported by a 12-5 lead, Australia native, Mitch Ellis used the top of the ninth as a “get-right” outing after a bumpy start to his season in South Bend and induced a 4-6-3 double-play to end the game and secure Quad Cities’ fourth straight win.
Morel (1-1) earned the win for the home squad after allowing one run in two innings, while Featherstone (0-1) took the loss for Cedar Rapids after failing to complete a full inning of work.
ABOUT THE BANDITS: The 2021 season marks the River Bandits’ first year as a new Advanced-A major-league affiliate. As such, the team will be offering higher-quality baseball than has ever before been played in the Quad Cities. Additionally, the Bandits will welcome a new MLB affiliate to the Quad Cities, the Kansas City Royals. The River Bandits anchor the Quad Cities sports-market, which The Sports Business Journal named the top minor-league sports-market in the country in 2015 and second-best minor-league market in its 2017 follow-up ranking. In 2015, 2017, and 2019, the River Bandits earned Ballpark Digest’s award for “Best Charitable Works” in Minor League Baseball, the only club to win that coveted award three times. For more information, visit www.riverbandits.com or contact General Manager Joe Kubly at (563) 333-2768.
