Road trip

We are once again out on the highways and byways of our great continent seeking entertainment.

Today's journey brought us to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, home of the high A league affiliate of our local team, theTwins.  We came to see a home game for the Cedar Rapids Kernels who would be taking on the Beloit Snappers.

Mostly we were here to see the new phenom, the Twins number 1 draft choice, Royce Lewis.  He is barely 18 years old, having turned 18 in June.  It is a very long road to get there from here but we happily took this opportunity for an early peek at a player we may see again.  Here he takes his first swing of the evening.

Good luck to the young man.  He is athletic to be sure but his results on this evening were not the best.  He was 0 for 3 at the plate and had an error in the field as the Kernels shortstop.

This is what the league race looked like going into this evening's game.

Cedar Rapids won the game and moved within a half game of Beloit for fourth place in the West.  I have no idea what that means for them in terms of  post season possibilities

The fellow traveler posed in our seats, first row behind the home dugout, with the scoreboard in center field visible behind her.

Four different Kernels pitchers combined to produce a pitching gem, holding the Snappers to two hits and no runs.

After the game there were fireworks.

Before the game the fellow traveler was insistent upon the gift shop.

We bought the shirt.  The rubber ball was just a tiny bit harder.  At the conclusion of the game each member of the Kernels was given a Burger King logo small rubber ball to toss into the stands.  We were in the first row behind the home team dugout, I held up my hands and eventually number 15, Colton Davis, looked right at me and tossed me his ball.  I am pleased to report that I am still capable of making the catch on a short toss of a rubber ball.

As a result someone has a new shirt and a new ball with a story.

It was a beautiful night in Iowa, a  fabulous night for baseball and fireworks.

Tomorrow we will venture even farther south.