CEDAR RAPIDS - This was Cajun-on-Cajun crime. One buddy not treating the other very nicely.
Sunday afternoon he lined a two-run single in the fifth inning that gave the Kernels the lead for good in what finished as a 6-3 victory. That'd be 2-for-2 with three RBIs.
"He's really one of my best friends," DeBarge said with a smile.
He and Langevin were teammates in college at the University of Louisiana. DeBarge was a first-round sandwich pick of the Minnesota Twins (33rd overall) in last year's MLB Draft and Langevin a fourth-rounder of the Kansas City Royals.
They'd never opposed each other until this week. And despite DeBarge getting the best of him, Langevin definitely has no hard feelings.
As they did each day and night of this series, the two met on the field behind home plate after the game and hugged Sunday. Langevin also hugged DeBarge's mother and father, who were in town visiting.
"He throws a lot of fastballs, had one of the best fastballs in the country (in college)," DeBarge said. "I told him after my first (at-bat) respect, knowing that I'm cheating fastball and still throwing it. Today was just a full-out battle."
Langevin got ahead of DeBarge in the count, but DeBarge hung in and hung in, fouling off some good two-strike pitches until getting his big hit.
"It was two dudes going after it," DeBarge said. "Just balls to the wall."
The Kernels (64-50 overall, 24-24 in the second half) won five of the seven games in the series. DeBarge went 4-for-4 and stole two bases, his 61st and 62nd this season.
Kyle Hess also had two hits. Starting pitcher Chase Chaney threw four shutout innings, though reliever Ivran Romero picked up the win.
Julio Bonilla and Paulshawn Pasqualotto finished off the game with three combined shutout relief innings.
This was a welcomed turnaround for a ballclub that came into the week on a seven-game losing streak. Cedar Rapids has had massive player turnover the past three weeks, with 12 new players joining the active roster.
The Kernels play this coming week at South Bend, a six-game series that begins Tuesday night. There are three weeks remaining in the regular season, with Cedar Rapids already assured of a playoff spot via winning the first-half championship in the Western Division.
"It was a good week for us," said Kernels Manager Brian Meyer. "I thought we played solid baseball all week, especially the last 24 hours (this win and a double-header sweep Saturday night): from a pitching standpoint, defense, we got some balls to drop with runners in scoring position. And everybody contributed.
"I felt this way after the games yesterday, where we've had so much roster turnover in the last 10 days or so, that it finally felt like they were coming together as a group. That was a really good feeling, and I think that helped show what happened on the field."