PLAINFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — The West Michigan Whitecaps popped the Cedar Rapids Kernels 3-1 on Tuesday to claim their seventh Midwest League championship.

The game was tight all night at Cedar Rapids’ Veterans Memorial Stadium. The Whitecaps outhit the Kernels 9-8 but were able to cash in on more opportunities.

The Whitecaps got the scoring started in the third. With runners at first and third, Brett Callahan hit a grounder to shortstop Marek Houston. Houston wanted to throw home and try to get Woody Hadeen at the plate, but he bobbled the ball and ended up throwing to first. The bobble and his indecision allowed the run to score and allowed Callahan to reach safely.

The Caps added another in the sixth when Jack Penney hit a two-out triple to left field. Two batters later, Bennett Lee drove a double to center field. Penney scored to make it 2-0 but Jackson Strong was thrown out at the plate trying to score from first.

West Michigan added another insurance run in the eighth. Callahan singled and Andrew Jenkins doubled to lead off the inning. Two batters later, Callahan scored on a wild pitch from Ruddy Gomez to make it 3-0.

Joe Miller had a terrific start to lead the Whitecaps pitching staff. He scattered five hits and a pair of walks to shut out the Kernels through 5.2 innings. He also escaped a pair of jams, pitching around a leadoff triple in the first and stranding two runners in the third.

In the bottom of the sixth, Cedar Rapids was able to load the bases, ending Miller’s night with a walk. But Colin Fields came out of the bullpen to strike out Caden Kendle to once again turn the Kernels away.

Cedar Rapids was finally able to get on the board in the eighth when reliever Moises Rodriguez struggled with his command. He gave up back-to-back singles to start the inning before inducing a soft groundball out to third. Then, he hit Kendle to load the bases, allowed a run to score on a wild pitch, and walked Poncho Ruiz to load them again.

Carlos Lequerica came on to try and quell the damage and did just that, getting Jaime Ferrer to ground into a 5-4-3 double play, holding the score at 3-1.

After the Caps went three up, three down in the top of the ninth, Marco Jimenez came on and did the same to the Kernels. He caught Kyle DeBarge looking at strike three, got Houston to fly out to right and got Eduardo Tait to go down swinging to finish off the win.  

Cedar Rapids did a good job of limiting the offensive damage — the Whitecaps were just 2 for 14 with runners in scoring position. But the Caps did even better: Cedar Rapids went 0 for 10.

West Michigan took the first game of the best-of-three series Sunday afternoon at LMCU Ballpark. The Kernels were able to scratch three runs across in the early innings, but the Caps rallied back, scoring one in the fourth and four more in the fifth to take home a 5-3 win.

The Caps had no issue in the Midwest League Division Finals, either, dispatching the Lake County Captains in two straight, 7-2 and 4-0.

The Whitecaps have been the Midwest League’s best team all season. With three of the Detroit Tigers’ top prospects — Josue Briceno, Max Clark and Kevin McGonigle — the Caps stormed out to a 44-21 record and secured the East Division’s first-half playoff spot.

The trio were each promoted to Double-A Erie in early July. John Peck and Seth Stephenson were promoted in mid-August. Despite all of the promotions, the Caps managed to play even better. Since the trio was promoted, the Whitecaps went 38-13.

Overall, they finished the season 92-39, 18.5 games better than any other team in the Midwest League. They also had the best run differential (+294) of any team in pro baseball. Their .702 winning percentage was the best by a full-season Minor League Baseball team since 1997 — a .706 mark also set by the West Michigan Whitecaps.

The championship is the Whitecaps’ seventh Midwest League title in their 32-year history. The Caps won their first title in 1996, their third year as a ball club. They also won the Midwest League in 1998, 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2015.