Prairie Baseball

Thede leaving Prairie for Mount Vernon

Matt Thede will be leaving his post as the head baseball coach at Cedar Rapids Prairie after this season to become the new athletic director and assistant principal at Mount Vernon High School.

Thede, 36, has compiled a 95-81 record in five years as Prairie's head coach. He just finished his eighth year in the College Community school district as a teacher and coach.

Thede and his wife, Jessica, live in Mount Vernon and have three young children. Jessica Thede teaches at Mount Vernon High School and they live a block from the school.

Thede said his new job will be good for his family and a good move for him professionally. He has regretted not be able to attend his 5-year-old son's baseball games due to his busy schedule with the Prairie baseball team.

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Prairie swept by No. 1 Hempstead

The Cedar Rapids Prairie baseball team put up a good fight against top-ranked Dubuque Hempstead Wednesday night but dropped both ends of a Mississippi Valley Conference twinbill at Prairie, 8-7 and 5-2.

The Hawks (6-14, 5-9) trailed 8-3 in the opener, but they scored four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to pull within 8-7. The rally ended there, however.

Trey Beckman drove in three runs for Prairie in the first game. Cal Clark, Casey Hook and Ben Boldt had two hits. Boldt socked a solo home run.

Prairie scored first in the nightcap, but Hempstead scored four times in the middle innings to take a 4-1 lead. The Hawks made it 4-2, but Hempstead scored again in the top of the seventh.

Nic Mougin and JP Havel-Pisarik had two hits for Prairie in the second game.

Game 1

Hempstead    040 130 0 - 8 11 0
Prairie      020 140 0 - 7 10 3

W - Greenwald. L - Rima.

Game 2

Hempstead    000 220 1 - 5 7 2
Prairie      001 001 0 - 2 8 3

W - Duax. L - Beckman. S - Bortscheller.

Prairie gets on track with 2 wins

WATERLOO - Cedar Rapids Prairie picked up a pair of much-needed victories Monday by sweeping a Mississippi Valley Conference doubleheader from Waterloo East, 4-2 and 7-2.

The victories lifted the Hawks to 6-12 overall and 5-7 in the MVC.

Jalen Rima went 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs in the first game. Cal Clark and Nick Benson also had two hits. Ben Milks got the victory in relief when Prairie rallied from an early 2-0 deficit in the 4-2 triumph.

Rima went 2-for-2 and scored three times in the second game. Benson had two more hits. Nic Mougin, Milks and JP Havel-Pisarik had two RBIs.

Mougin was touched for two unearned runs in five innings in the nightcap and got the victory. Milks returned to the mound and tossed two scoreless frames for a save.

Game 1

Prairie        000 030 1 - 4 9 0
Waterloo East  020 000 0 - 2 5 5

W - Milks. L - Magnuson.

Game 2

Prairie        301 000 3 - 7 10 2
Waterloo East  200 000 0 - 2 2 4

W - Mougin. L - Scribbner. S - Milks.

Cougars, J-Hawks lead Metro baseball

This is not shaping up as a particularly good year for high school baseball in the Metro area.

Only Kennedy and Jefferson have winning records in conference games. And only Kennedy, Jefferson and Xavier have winning records overall.

The Xavier Saints suffered a big loss this month when Mitch Keller accepted a $1 million signing bonus from Pittsburgh and left to begin his pro career.

The Linn-Mar Lions also have suffered a big loss with all-state catcher Brandt Ollinger playing travel ball this summer with an all-star team. Linn-Mar Coach Chad Lechner said Ollinger will be gone for an extended period of time.

Kennedy is ranked No. 2 in Class 4A and Jefferson defeated No. 1 Hempstead in the second game of a doubleheader Friday.

Here are the Metro records through June 22:

Kennedy         14-2 overall   10-2 MVC
Jefferson       13-6 overall   8-4 MVC
Xavier          12-8 overall   6-6 MVC
Marion          8-8 overall    6-6 Wamac
Linn-Mar        9-14 overall   4-8 MVC
Prairie         4-12 overall   3-7 MVC
Washington      3-12 overall   3-9 MVC
Cedar Valley    0-14 overall