Quad Cities River Bandits Finish 2021 Season As Champions

It was an exciting night at Modern Woodmen Park in downtown Davenport. The 2021 High-A Central Championship was up for grabs between the Quad Cities River Bandits and the Cedar Rapids Kernels. Sunday, the River Bandits put on a show and finished the 2021 season as champions.

Get our free mobile app

On Sunday, September 26, 2021, the Quad Cities River Bandits secured their 12th championship in franchise history as they topped the Cedar Rapids Kernels 5-0 in a winner-take-all Game Five at Modern Woodmen Park.

Quad Cities’ offense kicked into action right from the get-go and took advantage of a pair of Cody Laweryson walks by grabbing a 2-0 lead on an RBI single from Logan Porter and an RBI double by John Rave that chased the Kernels’ starter after facing seven batters and lasting just 0.1 innings

After Denny Bentley recorded the final two outs in the first, he wound up on the hook for another Bandits’ tally as Nick Loftin extended his team’s lead to 3-0 with a run-scoring knock-up the middle in the second.

On the mound, A.J. Block retired the first nine batters he faced and struck out five in 3.2 innings before handing the ball to Zach Haake, who struck out Alex Isola to stand a pair of Kernels’ runners in the fourth.

The Bandits gradually added onto the lead in the middle innings and got a pair of runs from Tucker Bradley who launched a solo homer off of Bentley in the fourth before making it a 5-0 game with a sacrifice fly-in the fifth.

Haake worked 2.1 innings of relief for Q.C. and stranded a pair of walks in the sixth. The next man in, Caden Monke, picked up a strikeout but loaded the bases via walks in the seventh. However, Nathan Webb took over and struck out back-to-back batters to end the threat and keep Cedar Rapids off the board.

Webb remained in the game for the eighth and stranded a Michael Helman walk before leaving two more runners on in the top of the ninth as the righty got Edouard Julien to pop up to end the ballgame and finalize Quad Cities’ fourth championship in the last ten seasons.

Thanks to his scoreless relief, Zach Haake (1-0) earned the win in the series finale and mixed in four strikeouts, while Laweryson (0-1) took the loss for Cedar Rapids despite recording just one out.

The victory on Sunday concludes the River Bandits’ 2021 season and marks their first championship as affiliates of the Kansas City Royals.

Last week, the Quad Cities River Bandits announced their 2022 regular-season schedule. They will once again be playing in the High-A Central.

The 2022 season begins with Opening Day on the road against the South Bend Cubs on Friday, April 8. The River Bandits’ home opener at Modern Woodmen Park is scheduled for Tuesday, April 12 against the Cedar Rapids Kernels.

Game times and a full promotional schedule will be released closer to the start of the season.