Prairie Baseball

Prairie drops twinbill in Cedar Falls

CEDAR FALLS - The Cedar Rapids Prairie baseball team had a rough time in Cedar Falls Friday and dropped both ends of a Mississippi Valley Conference doubleheader to the Tigers.

Cedar Falls battered Prairie ace Brennan Hammer in the first game and posted a 12-2 victory in five innings. The Tigers scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning of the nightcap to grab an 11-10 verdict for the sweep.

Cedar Falls reached Hammer for 12 hits and 11 runs (seven earned) in just 2 1/3 innings of the opener. Hammer missed eight games this month with a knee injury, but he returned Monday and pitched well against Dubuque Hempstead.

Prairie tied the nightcap, 9-9, in the top of the seventh to force extra innings. The Hawks took a 10-9 lead in the top of the eighth, but the Tigers scored twice in the bottom of the eighth for the victory.

Hammer went 3-for-5 with two doubles and a triple in the second game. Brayton Carlson also collected two doubles. Tyler Votroubek went 3-for-5 with two RBIs. Carlson also drove in two runs for the Hawks (19-15, 12-10).

Cedar Falls (17-14, 9-13) won the nightcap despite committing seven errors.

GAME ONE

PRAIRIE (2)
Velvick, cf, 2 0 1 0, Mougin, ss, 2 1 1 0, Carlson, 2b, 3 0 0 0, Butz, 3b, 2 1 1 0, Votroubek, 1b/p, 2 0 1 1, Hammer, p/1b, 2 0 0 0, Alberts, lf, 2 0 0 0, Pond, c, 2 0 0 0, Davison, rf, 2 0 0 0. Totals 19 2 4 1.

CEDAR FALLS (12)
Deines, 1b, 4 2 1 0, Sole, c, 4 3 3 0, Hagarty, ss, 3 4 3 1, Farley, dh, 4 1 1 3, Fletcher, lf, 2 1 2 3, Paup, cf, 2 1 2 2, Daniels, rf, 3 0 2 1, Mozena, 3b, 3 0 1 1, Creger, 2b, 3 0 1 0. Totals 28 12 16 11.

Prairie         200 00 -   2  4  2
Cedar Falls   434 01 - 12 16 0

Hammer, Votroubek (3) and Pond; Kuntz and Sole. W - Kuntz. L - Hammer. 2B - Velvick, Votroubek, Mougin, Hagarty, Farley, Creger. SB - Butz, Hagarty 2.

GAME TWO

PRAIRIE (10)
Velvick, cf, 4 1 1 0, Mougin, ss, 5 2 2 1, Carlson, 2b, 5 1 2 2, Butz, 3b, 5 0 0 0, Votroubek, 1b, 5 2 3 2, Hammer, rf, 5 2 3 1, Beckman, dh, 3 0 0 1, Peters, ph, 1 0 1 0, Pond, c, 4 0 1 1, Schulte, lf, 3 1 0 0, Davison, cr, 0 1 0 0. Totals 40 10 13 8.

CEDAR FALLS (11)
Deines, 1b, 4 0 0 0, Sole, c/p, 3 1 1 0, Hagarty, ss, 3 2 0 0, Farley, 3b, 4 2 1 0, Fletcher, dh/c, 3 3 2 2, Paup, cf, 4 2 3 3, Daniels, lf, 4 1 2 2, Kuntz, rf, 2 0 0 1, Mozena, ph, 1 0 0 0, Creger, 2b, 4 0 1 1. Totals 32 11 10 9.

Prairie        421 010 11 - 10 13 2
Cedar Falls  204 012 02 - 11 10 7

Dean, Alberts (4), Adams (7) and Pond; Balthazor, Hagedorn (5), Sole (8) and Sole, Fletcher (8). W - Sole. L - Adams. 2B - Carlson 2, Hammer 2, Mougin, Fletcher, Paup, Creger. 3B - Hammer. SB - Carlson, Fletcher, Kuntz.

Prairie hammers Waterloo East in sweep

WATERLOO - On a day when the weather was excruciatingly hot, so too were the Cedar Rapids Prairie bats when the Hawks paid a visit to Waterloo East Wednesday.

Prairie hammered out 35 hits that produced 27 runs in a doubleheader sweep of the Trojans, 14-3 and 13-3.

Tyler Votroubek went 6-for-9 with eight RBIs in the Mississippi Valley Conference twinbill for Prairie (19-13, 12-8).

Jason Velvick was 3-for-4 in the opener with two runs and three RBIs. Ty Mougin and Trey Beckman drove in two runs. Bryce Alberts had two hits and was the winning pitcher.

Mougin went 3-for-3 in the second game with a triple, home run, three runs and three RBIs. Brayton Carlson was 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Trent Schulte was 2-for-4 with two RBIs.

In game one, East (4-26, 3-17) pounded out 15 hits against Prairie's two pitchers. Unfortunately for the Trojans, all 15 hits were singles and they produced just three runs.

Game two was more of the same.

Prairie jumped on the Trojans early, racking up three runs on four hits in the Hawks' first five at-bats of the game.

Prairie again got some huge hits, scoring five runs - two in the fourth and three in the sixth - to widen the gap as East's offense went stagnant.

The Hawks added four more runs in the seventh inning for insurance.

GAME ONE

PRAIRIE (14)
Velvick, cf, 4 2 3 3, Mougin, ss, 5 0 1 2, Carlson, 2b, 5 2 1 0, Butz, 3b, 3 3 2 0, Votroubek, 1b, 5 1 3 5, Hammer, rf, 3 2 1 1, Peters, ph, 1 1 1 0, Beckman, lf, 3 0 0 2, Pond, c, 3 2 1 1, Alberts, p, 4 1 2 0. Totals 36 14 15 14.

WATERLOO EAST (3)
Magnuson, p/ss, 5 0 3 1, Scribner, ss/c, 5 0 1 0, Billings, cf, 4 0 3 0, Mnayer, 3b, 3 0 0 0, Sahr, c/p, 3 1 1 0, Schutte, 1b, 3 0 2 0, Ramirez, 2b, 3 1 2 0, Faith, lf, 4 1 1 1, Frost, rf, 4 0 1 1. Totals 34 3 14 3.

Prairie               231 011 6 - 14 18 0
Waterloo East    020 000 1 -  3 15 1

Alberts, Schulte (7) and Pond; Magnuson, Sahr (5) and Sahr, Scribner (5). W - Alberts. L - Magnuson. 2B - Votroubek 2, Velvick, Mougin. SB - Ramirez, Billings.

GAME TWO

PRAIRIE (13)
Velvick, cf, 1 2 1 0, Davison, cf, 1 2 1 0, Mougin, ss, 3 3 3 3, Steffens, ph, 1 0 0 0, Carlson, 2b, 3 2 2 2, Wagner, ph, 1 1 1 0, Butz, 3b, 4 1 0 0, Votroubek, 1b, 4 1 3 3, Swanson, ph, 1 1 1 1, Hammer, dh, 2 0 0 0, Dean, ph, 1 0 1 1, Schulte, rf, 4 0 2 2, Pond, c, 4 0 0 1, Knoll, ph, 1 0 0 0, Peters, lf, 4 0 1 0. Totals 35 13 16 13.

WATERLOO EAST (3)
Magnuson, ss, 2 2 2 1, Scribner, p, 3 0 0 0, Billings, cf, 4 0 2 1, Sahr, c, 3 0 0 0, Howard, 3b, 2 0 0 0, Ramirez, 2b, 3 0 0 0, Schutte, lf, 3 1 1 0, Frost, rf, 3 0 2 0, McCann, 1b, 3 0 1 0. Totals 26 3 8 2.

Prairie               301 203 4 - 13 17 2
Waterloo East    101 000 1 -  3   8 2

Adams, Henry (7) and Pond; Scribner, Faith (5) and Sahr. W - Adams. L - Scribner. 2B - Schutte, Carlson, Schulte. 3B - Mougin, Davison. HR - Mougin. SB - Velvick 2, Votroubek, Carlson.

Hammer, Votroubek pace Hawks by Mustangs

Brennan Hammer was cleared to play baseball Monday morning after missing eight games with the Prairie Hawks due to a sore right knee.

He didn't miss a beat.

Hammer helped Prairie sweep a Mississippi Valley Conference twinbill from Dubuque Hempstead, 8-2 and 17-9, at Prairie Monday night.

Hammer started on the mound in the opener and there were no signs of rust at all. The southpaw retired the first 12 men he faced and looked in good form.

Hammer injured his right knee making a diving catch against Linn-Mar on June 15 and missed 10 days. He was examined by the chief of sports medicine at the University of Iowa Monday morning and given permission to play.

"He said it's good to go," Hammer remarked. "That's all I needed to hear."

His perfect game bid was broken up by a leadoff single by Ben George in the fifth, but by then the Hawks were in control.

“When he steps to the mound it’s almost like we have a different level of confidence out there, like we only have to score a couple runs to be in contention to win the game,” said Coach Matt Thede.

The Hawks showed that confidence when they stepped to the plate in the bottom of the first inning by scoring five times on four consecutive RBI hits. The No. 3 through 7 hitters carried the offense, going an eye-opening 10-for-17 in the ballgame.

Right in the middle of that was Tyler Votroubek, who went 3-for-4 in the opener with an RBI.

The first-inning outburst was plenty for Hammer (5-0). He went six innings, giving up five hits and two unearned runs in the 8-2 victory.

The second game was an exhibition of effective at-bats by the Hawks. They found themselves down early 3-0, but struck back in the bottom of the second with four runs of their own, led by a Votroubek RBI single.

Both teams traded runs until the bottom of the fifth when Prairie trailed 8-6. The Hawks sent 16 men to the plate and scored 11 times on only three hits.

It was Votroubek again, collecting two hits and three RBIs in the fifth inning. The inning was not exactly a hit parade, however.

Mitch Peters drew a bases-loaded walk on a 10 pitch at-bat to tie the game, 8-8. The next six Hawks came to the plate and they all drew RBI walks as well. Prairie had only three hits in the inning, but scored 11 times.

Votroubek went 3-for-3 in the nightcap, making him 6-for-7 in the twinbill with six singles. He also drove in four runs.

“I am just seeing the ball so much better right now. I am keeping my weight back and driving the ball,” he said.

Prairie raised its records to 17-13 overall and 10-8 in the MVC. Hempstead fell to 9-18 overall and 8-10 in the league.

GAME ONE

HEMPSTEAD (2)
Stevenson, 2b, 3 1 1 0, Boleyn, p/3b, 4 0 0 0, Tomkins, ss, 3 1 1 0, George, 3b/p, 2 0 1 0, Vanderlee, 1b, 3 0 1 2, Fitzgerald, rf, 3 0 1 0, Houselog, lf, 3 0 0 0, Keleher, c, 3 0 0 0, Seymour, cf, 3 0 0 0.  Totals 27 2 5 2.

PRAIRIE (8)
Velvick, cf, 5 1 1 0, Mougin, ss, 3 2 0 0, Carlson, 2b, 2 1 2 1, Butz, 3b, 3 1 1 2, Votroubek, 1b, 4 2 3 1, Hammer, p, 4 0 2 2, Alberts, lf, 4 0 2 1, Pond, c, 2 0 0 1, Schulte, rf, 2 0 0 0.  Davison, cr, 0 1 0 0. Totals 29 8 11 8.

Hempstead    000 002 0 - 2  5  4
Prairie            510 110 x - 8 11 2

Boleyn, George (3) and Keleher; Hammer, Dean (7) and Pond. W - Hammer (5-0). L - Boleyn. 2B - Hammer. 3B - Carlson. SB - Votroubek, Carlson.

GAME TWO

HEMPSTEAD (8)
Stevenson, 2b, 4 3 2 1, Tomkins, ss, 4 1 3 3, Bortscheller, dh, 5 0 1 2, George, 3b, 3 0 1 0, Vanderlee, 1b, 5 0 1 1, Wilgenbusch, c, 4 1 2 0, D.Fitzgerald, p, 4 2 2 0, C.Fitzgerald, rf/p, 4 0 0 0, Houselog, lf/p, 2 2 0 0. Totals 35 9 12 7.

PRAIRIE (17)
Velvick, cf, 3 1 0 1, Digman, ph, 1 0 1 0, Swanson, ph, 1 0 0 0, Mougin, ss, 3 1 0 1, Carlson, 2b, 3 2 1 1, Adams, ph, 1 0 1 0, Butz, 3b, 1 4 1 1, Wagner, ph, 1 0 0 0, Votroubek, 1b, 3 3 3 4, Henry, ph, 1 0 0 0, Hammer, dh, 3 1 1 1, Alberts, lf, 1 2 1 1, Pond, c, 2 0 0 1, Peters, ph, 0 1 0 1, Davison, rf, 3 1 1 3, Schulte, cr, 0 1 0 0. Totals 27 17 10 15.

Hempstead   030 320 1 - 9 12 1
Prairie          041 0(11)0 x - 17 10 3

D.Fitzgerald, Houselog (5), C.Fitzgerald (5) and Wilgenbusch; Steffens, Dean (4), Beckman (6) and Pond.  W - Dean. L - D.Fitzgerald. 2B - Tomkins, Stevenson, Adams. 3B - Carlson, Butz. SB - Tomkins, Stevenson, Houselog, Bortscheller 2, Votroubek.

Velvick sparks Prairie to title

Jason Velvick missed most of the 2011 baseball season after breaking his collarbone in a horrible car accident, but he's making up for lost time now.

The talented center fielder has become an on-base machine for Cedar Rapids Prairie, virtually living on those white pillows on the diamond.

Velvick went 6-for-6 and reached base nine straight times Saturday as the Hawks won both of their games at the Heald-Jackson Baseball Classic at Marion High School.

Prairie topped Marion, 13-9, in the championship game after dispensing with Burlington, 9-4, in the opening round.

Velvick scored seven runs and hit for the cycle with two singles, two doubles, a triple, a homer, three walks, one RBI and a stolen base. The prolific performance raised his batting average to .471 and lifted his on-base percentage well over .600.

Velvick was a passenger in an accident that claimed the driver's life last year, a traumatic experience that left Velvick battered and bruised. He appeared in only 14 games and hit .310 after hitting a healthy .418 as a sophomore in 2010.

"I'm getting back into it this year. It's nice," he said Saturday after starring in both games.

Velvick has a big knot at the base of his right collarbone thanks to a calcium deposit, but otherwise there are no lingering medical issues from the accident. "It's going great," he said. "It's feeling good."

Velvick bats in the No. 1 spot for Prairie (15-13) and also does a terrific job of patrolling center field for the Hawks. He's scored 35 runs in 26 games as one of the premier leadoff men in the state.

"To have a guy get on base that many times, it certainly gives us a lot of confidence that we can score some runs," said Prairie Coach Matt Thede. "The guy certainly covers a lot of ground in center field, that's for sure."

Velvick enjoys chasing fly balls. "I love center," he said. "Outfield is fun. I love it. I like to make those catches and make big catches to save games.

"I'm pretty good at reading balls and tracking balls and catching them. It's nice to be out there."

Velvick won't have to travel very far next season to chase baseballs. He'll be joining the Kirkwood Community College Eagles, right down the street from Prairie in southwest Cedar Rapids.

Thede said Velvick has "matured within the game" since his sophomore year, becoming more disciplined and patient at the plate. The Hawks are hoping to catch fire and make a run for the state tournament after reaching the substate finals last year, and Velvick could be a key man in a possible trip to Des Moines.

"We have a really good ballclub and I think we're going to have a good chance to go pretty far," he said. "The pitching is good, the hitting is coming back together. I think we're going to be a really solid ballclub and finish out pretty strong this year."

Velvick reached base all five times against Marion. He went 3-for-3 with two doubles, two walks and four runs scored. Brayton Carlson hit a two-run homer and drove in five runs against the Indians. Tyler Butz went 2-for-3 with a double and drove in three runs.

Ty Mougin also drove in three runs against Marion. Trent Schulte and Mitch Peters, hitting in the No. 8 and No. 9 spots for Prairie, went 4-for-6 and scored five runs.

Velvick went 3-for-3 with a triple, homer and three runs scored in the 9-4 victory over Burlington. Butz went 4-for-4 and drove in three runs. Tyler Votroubek was 3-for-4 and drove in two runs.

Butz nearly matched Velvick's performance at the plate by finishing 6-for-7 in the tournament with four RBIs.

Trev Biery drove in three runs for Marion (19-9) against Prairie. Addison Johnson drove in two runs for the Indians and Mitch Wagner scored three times.

Christian Stekl went 3-for-5 for Marion in the 9-6 victory over Charles City. Sean McGarvey was 3-for-3 and scored twice. Alex Charipar went 2-for-2 and scored three runs. Wagner and Logan Fuller had two hits.

Charles City defeated Burlington, 12-2, in the consolation game for third place.

SEMIFINALS

GAME 1

CHARLES CITY (6)
Isakson, c, 3 2 2 0, Hageman, cf, 4 2 2 0, Johnson, lf/3b, 4 1 1 1, Etherington, 3b/p, 3 1 0 0, Opp, rf, 4 0 0 0, Girkin, dh, 2 0 1 0, Rutherford, 2b, 0 0 0 0, Gabel, 1b, 4 0 1 0, Crawford, p, 3 0 1 0, Jarvill, p, 0 0 0 0, Montagne, ss/p, 3 0 0 0. Totals 30 6 8 1.

MARION (9)
Wagner, 2b/ss, 4 0 2 1, Stekl, p/ss, 5 1 3 1, Biery, 1b, 4 0 1 0, Johnson, c, 3 0 0 0, Q.Cannoy, cr, 0 0 0 0, Davila, lf, 2 2 0 0, Kuhn, 2b, 1 0 0 0, Charipar, cf, 2 3 2 0, McGarvey, dh, 3 2 3 0, Hardman, rf, 0 0 0 0, Connolly, p/lf, 0 1 0 0, Larsen, cr, 0 0 0 0, Carstensen, cr, 0 0 0 0, Fuller, 3b, 4 0 2 2. Totals 28 9 13 4.

Charles City     320 010 0 - 6 8 1
Marion           124 101 x - 9 13 5

Crawford, Etherington, Montagne, Jarvill and Isakson; Connolly, Stekl (5) and Johnson. W - Connolly. L - Crawford. 2B  Wagner, Stekl.

GAME 2

BURLINGTON (4)
Falls 3 2 1 0, Elmore 5 1 2 0, Patterson 4 0 4 3, Atkins 3 1 1 0, Dunn 4 0 1 1, Allsup 3 0 1 0, O'Dear 1 0 0 0, Werner 3 0 1 0, Martin 3 0 1 0, Cordero 1 0 0 0, Gates 3 0 0 0, Peck 1 0 1 0. Totals 34 4 13 4.

PRAIRIE (9)
Velvick 3 3 3 1, Mougin 3 2 1 0, Carlson 4 2 2 1, Butz 4 2 4 1, Votroubek 4 0 3 2, Beckman 3 0 0 1, Alberts 3 0 0 1, Pond 3 0 0 0, Schulte 0 0 0 0, Henry 3 0 0 0. Totals 30 9 13 9.

Snyder, O'Dear (2). Schulte, Henry (2), Butz (7). W - Henry. L - Snyder. 2B - Elmore, Patterson, Votroubek, Mougin, Butz. 3B - Velvick. HR - Velvick. SB - Carlson.

FINALS

MARION (9)
Wagner, 2b, 1 3 1 0, Stekl, ss, 1 2 0 0, Biery, 1b, 2 1 1 3, Johnson, c, 3 0 0 2, Carstenson, cr, 0 0 0 0, Davila, p/lf, 3 0 1 1, Q.Cannoy, cr, 0 0 0 0, C.Cannoy, rf, 0 0 0 0, Charipar, cf, 3 0 1 0, McGarvey, dh, 3 0 0 1, Hardman, lf/rf, 0 0 0 0, Q.Cannoy, p, 0 0 0 0, Connolly, rf,/p/lf, 3 0 0 0, Carstenson, ph, 1 0 0 0, Fuller, 3b, 2 3 1 0. Totals 19 9 5 7.

PRAIRIE (13)
Velvick, cf, 3 4 3 0, Mougin, ss, 4 2 1 3, Carlson, 2b, 2 2 1 5, Butz, c/p, 3 0 2 3, Davison, cr/p, 0 0 0 0, Votroubek, p/1b, 3 0 1 1, Beckman, h/p, 2 0 0 0, Pond, 1b/c, 2 0 0 0, Alberts, 3b, 4 0 1 0, Schulte, rf, 3 3 2 0, Peters, lf, 3 2 2 1. Totals 29 13 13 13.

Marion     004 203 0 -   9  5 2
Prairie      102 451 x - 13 13 1

Davila, Connolly (4), Q.Cannoy (5) and Johnson; Votroubek, Beckman (3), Butz (5), Davison (6) and Butz, Pond (5). W - Beckman. L - Davila. S - Davison. 2B - Velvick 2, Butz, Peters. HR - Carlson. SB - Wagner.