Washington Baseball

J-Hawks strike early, top Warriors

Cedar Rapids Jefferson scored five runs in the second inning and coasted to its second win in two nights over Cedar Rapids Washington, 5-1, in a Mississippi Valley Conference baseball game at Washington on Friday night.

The J-Hawks beat the Warriors on Thursday night, 5-4.

A leadoff single by Austin Goodell followed by bunt singles by Chance Tiedtke and Sam Techau loaded the bases in the first inning for Jefferson. Colten Jourdan doubled down the left-field line, driving in two runs.

That was followed by a suicide squeeze and three Washington errors, giving the J-Hawks their quick 5-0 margin.

“I got a pitch right down the middle and just went with it,” said Jourdan. “I was looking for a fastball and when I got it, I didn’t waste any time.”

Jordan Dee went the distance for Jefferson, giving up four hits while striking out seven.

“I was having trouble with my curveball early, but in the third it began working for me so I was able to keep them off balance the rest of the game,” said Dee. “It felt good to get the complete game win.”

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J-Hawk positivity dooms Warriors

Sometimes, a positive attitude can be an athlete’s most dangerous weapon. The Cedar Rapids Washington baseball team felt the full force of that weapon on Thursday night.

Jefferson’s Chance Tiedtke, who had been experiencing trouble at the plate, came to bat in the bottom of the seventh inning with two outs and his team trailing by one run.

Tiedtke proceeded to rip a walk-off single down the third base line to score runners from second and third to give Jefferson a 5-4 victory over Washington at home.

“I had been down the whole game because I haven’t been hitting that well,” said Tiedtke. “So I was just trying to stay positive. I could hear my teammates just telling me to stay positive, so I just tried to put the ball in play and do whatever I could for my team.”

Jefferson struggled at the plate most of the night, but Tiedtke came up big when it counted.

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Warriors swept by Little Hawks

By Tyler Tjelmeland

Metro Sports Report

Trailing 8-1 with the bases loaded and two outs, any baseball team needs a spark.

The Cedar Rapids Washington Warriors seemed to be in a good position Tuesday night with future Florida Gator and highly touted lefty A.J. Puk coming to the plate. However, Puk struck out looking at a curveball that just painted the edge from Iowa City High righthander Grant Simpson.

Puk’s at-bat illustrated more than just one inning for the Warriors. It demonstrated the entire night for Washington as it fell in both contests, 11-1 in five innings and 9-6, in a Mississippi Valley Conference doubleheader at Washington.

Ryan Duncan led off the first inning in the first game against Puk with a deep triple off the right-field wall and City High never looked back.

Duncan scored on a passed ball, Jack Frakes reached on a dropped third strike and Mitch Wieland hit a no-doubt homer to deep right field to put the Little Hawks up 3-0.

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Puk enjoys fast start with Warriors

A.J. Puk has one of the sweetest left-handed swings in Iowa.

You could scour all the schools between the Mississippi River on the east and the Missouri on the west and find none better.

He showed it Monday evening.

Puk lined a single to left field in the first inning, ripped a double to deep right-center in the second inning and smashed a long, towering homer to right field in the third as the Washington Warriors dumped Oskaloosa, 17-7, in five innings in a Memorial Day special at the Washington field.

Puk batted again in the fourth inning, needing a triple to hit for the cycle in just four innings, but popped up to third base in his final at-bat.

Puk has a triple this season, but the 6-foot-4 junior claimed he didn't realize he needed a three-base hit for the cycle. "No, I did not," he said. "I wasn't even thinking about that."

Puk is hitting a robust .667 in five games with 10 hits in 15 at-bats. He's collected two doubles, a triple, a homer and five RBIs for the Warriors.

"My swing felt really good in pre-game and it just carried over into the game and it felt really good," he said.

Puk is also a top left-handed pitcher with a fastball that climbs into the low 90's, but he's gotten off to a cautious start this year due to a tender left elbow. He's scheduled to be one of Washington's starting pitchers against Iowa City High in a Mississippi Valley Conference doubleheader at Washington Tuesday at 5 p.m.

Puk thinks the Warriors have a chance to have a good season under new head coach Tony Lombardi. He likes what he's seen so far.

"It's gone really well," he said. "We've got a great coaching staff, and our players just want to come out and get better every day. It's gone really smooth so far."

Washington has a 2-3 record, but two of the losses were to top-ranked Kennedy (4-0) and second-ranked West Des Moines Valley (4-3 in eight innings). The Warriors nearly upset Valley this past Saturday at home.

"It gave us a lot of confidence," said Puk, who has commmited to the University of Florida. "They're No. 2 in the state, and we were with them the whole time. Almost had them."

Washington jumped all over Oskaloosa (1-3) and led 14-0 after three innings, thanks to good hitting and poor defense. Oskaloosa scored six runs in the fourth inning, but the Warriors finished the game by the 10-run rule in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI single by Will Rings.

Noah Dostal went 2-for-4 for Washington with two triples. Zach Gillis, Matt Troendle, Jacob Hand and Rings also had two hits for the Warriors. Hand and Rings drove in three runs and Gillis had two RBIs.

Oskaloosa finished with seven runs, seven hits and seven errors.

OSKALOOSA (7)
Redlich, cf, 3 1 0 0, Rutledge, ss, 0 0 0 0, Schaffner, ph, 1 0 0 0, Tucker, c, 3 0 1 1, Pettyjohn, p, 1 0 0 0, Berthusen, p, 1 1 0 0, Van Maanen, 2b, 1 0 0 0, Cressley, ph/2b, 2 2 2 0, Green, rf, 1 0 0 0, Van Velhuizen, ph/rf, 2 0 1 0, Gile, 1b, 0 0 0 0, Lowry, ph/1b, 2 1 1 1, Van Dalen, lf, 3 1 1 2, Hance, 3b, 0 0 0 0, Boyle, ph/3b, 3 1 1 0. Totals 23 7 7 4.

WASHINGTON (17)
N.Dostal, ss, 4 2 2 0, Hogg, 2b/p, 2 2 1 0, Thorson, ph, 1 0 1 1, Puk, 1b, 4 3 3 3, Burdt, rf, 4 2 1 0, Gillis, 3b, 3 2 2 2, Troendle, cf, 3 1 2 1, Christensen, p/2b, 0 0 0 0, Dobbs, dh, 3 3 0 1, Hand, lf, 3 1 2 3, Rings, c, 3 0 2 3, Harrington, cr, 0 0 0 0. Totals 30 17 16 14.

Oskaloosa     000 61 -  7   7 7
Washington  752 12 - 17 16 3

Pettyjohn, Berthusen (2) and Tucker. Christensen, Hogg (5) and Rings. W - Christensen. L - Pettyjohn. 2B - Lowry, Van Dalen, Puk, Burdt. 3B - Dostal 2, Rings. HR - Puk. SB - Dostal, Hogg, Thorson.