Metro Sports Report

Kernels 'ready to roll' on Opening Day

(EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the second of two articles by Kernels broadcaster Morgan Hawks from spring training in Florida.)

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- It’s decision time regarding the 2013 Cedar Rapids Kernels roster.

Twins minor league managers and coaches, along with Twins minor league director Brad Steil, will make the tough decisions on who to send to which affiliate, including which players are on Tuesday’s flight to Cedar Rapids.

“The teams are starting to take shape,” said Kernels Manager Jake Mauer. “I think we have about four to five spots we’ve got to make decisions on. However, for the most part we’re pretty much ready.”

Looking at Wednesday’s lineup against the Boston Red Sox Class-A affiliate, it appears the Kernels could have a mix of youngsters and a few players with Midwest League experience.

Players in the lineup with no Midwest League experience included 3B Travis Harrison, outfielder Adam Walker, 1B D.J. Hicks, outfielder Romy Jimenez and 2B Candido Pimentel.

Players with some Midwest League experience included outfielder J.D. Williams, SS A.J. Pettersen, DH Drew Leachman and C Jairo Rodriguez.

Right-hander Hudson Boyd got Wednesday’s start on the mound for the Kernels.  He pitched last season at rookie-level Elizabethon.

Tatge, Logemann star as No.6 Eagles sweep

Kayla Tatge and Haylee Krack insist they do not have any side bets on who hits the most home runs for the Kirkwood Eagles this season.

No steak dinners, no free pizza, no ice cream sundaes.

"No, not at all," Tatge said Wednesday. "We're just doing our thing out here and helping the team as best we can."

Tatge socked four home runs Wednesday and Krack hit another as the sixth-ranked Eagles swept an ICCAC doubleheader from Ellsworth, 11-0 and 9-0, at the Kirkwood softball field.

Both games lasted only five innings.

Amber Logemann pitched a no-hitter with 12 strikeouts in the opener. Sam Belz followed with a two-hitter in the nightcap as Kirkwood (14-3, 2-0) cruised in both contests.

Kernels outfield could be loaded in 2013

(EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the fourth in a series of preseason articles about the Cedar Rapids Kernels. Next: Pitchers)

We’ve worked our way around the horn in the first three parts of this series, covering many of the catchers, corner infielders and middle infielders who possibly could put on a Kernels uniform in Cedar Rapids this summer.

In Part 4 of our series, we are checking out a number of outfielders who could take the field for Cedar Rapids at some point during 2013.

Obviously, we can’t know exactly who will come north to Iowa out of spring training to start the season, but regardless of which of these prospects starts the season in Cedar Rapids, the Kernels' outfield could be loaded.

A number of the organization’s top prospects played at Elizabethton in 2012, and many of them should start the season in Cedar Rapids.

Byron Buxton – Age 19 – Bats R/Throws R

2012: Fort Myers (Rookie – GCL) and Elizabethton (Rookie – Appalachian)

G - 48, BA - .248, K - 41, BB - 19, 2B - 10, 3B - 4, HR - 5

The only benefit to having the second-worst record in Major League Baseball in 2011 was that it earned the Twins the right to the second overall draft pick in the 2012 amateur draft. The Twins used that pick to select Buxton out of his Georgia high school. Less than a year later, he’s generally considered either the first- or second-ranked prospect in the Twins organization.

Wagemester steps aside as KCC coach

Doug Wagemester, one of the most intense and most successful junior college men's basketball coaches in the country, has decided to step aside as the head coach at Kirkwood Community College for the 2013-14 campaign.

Wagemester, 45, wants to concentrate on his job as Kirkwood's athletic director and also spend more time with his wife and three children.

Bryan Petersen, 25, a former Kirkwood player and one of Wagemester's assistant coaches this past season, has been named interim head coach for the 2013-14 season.

Wagemester plans to re-evaluate his situation a year from now and might return as Kirkwood's head coach for the 2014-15 campaign.

"It's going to be something we take a look at a year from now," he said Monday afternoon. "Everybody is on board with that. I feel fortunate to be in that position."