Xavier Baseball

Pick, Meaney help Saints split with Tigers

CEDAR FALLS - Adam Pick and Ryan Meaney collected four hits apiece as the Xavier Saints defeated Cedar Falls, 13-4, in the first game of a Mississippi Valley Conference doubleheader in Cedar Falls Tuesday.

Cedar Falls (18-15, 10-14) won the second game, 12-5.

Pick had a single, two doubles and a home run in the opener with three RBIs. Mack Mattke, Josh Tipton and Mitch St. Andrews all had two hits. Mattke hit a home run and drove in three runs. Tipton and St. Andrews had two RBIs.

Corbin Woods had a three-run double in the second game for Xavier (17-12, 12-10). Zach Brown and Jacob Harriott had two hits.

Woods was the winning pitcher in the first game.

GAME ONE

Xavier      015 221 2 - 13 17 3
Cedar Falls 103 000 0 - 4 10 3

Woods and Mattke; Seehase, Fletcher (6) and Creger. W - Woods. L - Seehase. 2B - Paup, Hagarty, Farley.

GAME TWO

Xavier      001 004 0 - 5 7 2
Cedar Falls 302 007 x - 12 10 1

Brown, Hines (4), Mattke (6), Keller (6) and Harriott; Deines, Crawford (6), Kuntz (7) and Sole. HR - Farley.

Saints host Waterloo West

Kennedy and Linn-Mar will have the home-field advantage when the Class 4A substate tournament series opens July 13.

The Cougars and Lions both have secured No. 1 seeds in their respective substates. If they win their openers on July 13, they will play in the substate finals -- at home -- on July 18. Substate winners advance to the state tournament at Des Moines. The 4A tournament is July 25, 27-28.

Official pairings for the Class 4A substate baseball tournaments won't be announced by the Iowa High School Athletic Association until later this week. But utilizing the criteria used by the IHSAA, the Metro Sports Report has calculated the standings.

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Keller helps Saints split with Hempstead

DUBUQUE - Mitch Keller pitched a complete game as the Xavier Saints defeated Dubuque Hempstead, 12-3, in the second game of a Mississippi Valley Conference doubleheader in Dubuque Wednesday.

Hempstead won the first game, 8-7, in nine innings.

The Saints collected 17 hits in their victory. Mack Mattke had three hits in the win for Xavier (16-11, 11-9). Corbin Woods, Zach Brown, Ryan Meaney and Luke Hammerberg had two hits. Adam Pick, Mattke, Meaney and Hammerberg had two RBIs.

Pick hit a three-run homer in the first game for the Saints. He finished the contest with three hits and four RBIs. Mattke had two hits and an RBI. Pick was the losing pitcher.

GAME ONE

Xavier           310 111 000 - 7 8 4
Hempstead   030 022 001 - 8 12 2

GAME TWO

Xavier           303 213 0 - 12 17 1
Hempstead   102 000 0 - 3 5 1

Bell shines as No. 2 Cougars sweep Saints

Cody Bell is a terrific golfer who will play at the University of Northern Iowa in a few months, but it's not the only sport where he's a top-notch performer for Kennedy High School.

The Xavier Saints learned Monday night that he's also a terrific pitcher and an excellent hitter, although they already had a hunch about that from previous encounters.

Bell tossed a neat three-hitter as Kennedy clipped the Saints, 4-1, in the second game of a Mississippi Valley Conference doubleheader at Ken Charipar Field.

The Cougars clubbed the Saints, 13-3, in five innings in the opener.

Bell went 4-for-7 in the twinbill with two doubles, raising his batting average to .442 with four homers and 27 RBIs in 25 games. He's also 2-1 on the mound with a 3.33 earned run average and is pitching the best ball of his career.

Bell is the No. 4 starter on an extraordinary staff that also features Alex Hayden, Adam Lloyd and Nick Appleget, but Bell showed he doesn't have to take a back-seat to anyone when he's got his best stuff like he did Monday night.

Bell allowed only two infield singles and a line drive that glanced off the first baseman's glove in his seven-inning performance. He tossed a 1-2-3 frame in the seventh with two strikeouts to finish the game with a flourish.

Bell also pitched well against Linn-Mar last week, undoubtedly his two best outings as a Cougar. He struggled at times earlier in the season, but appears to have hit a groove.

"I'm able to place my fastball where I need it to be. That's pretty much the main thing," he said. "My off-speed has been working somewhat - it's hit and miss - but my fastball has been consistent."

Kennedy Coach Bret Hoyer lifted Bell against Linn-Mar last week with a 5-1 lead in the sixth inning after he had thrown only 66 pitches and Linn-Mar rallied for a 7-6 victory. This time, Hoyer kept Bell in the game even when the Saints loaded the bases and his pitch count climbed into the 90's.

"Hindsight is 20-20," said Hoyer, reflecting on the loss to Linn-Mar. "If we could do it all over again we might do something different."

Bell threw 105 pitches against Xavier and appeared to be throwing as hard at the end as he did at the beginning. Hoyer had two relief pitchers ready, but Bell didn't need any help after escaping the sixth inning with minimal damage when the Saints scored their only run.

Bell wanted to pitch a complete game, the first seven-inning complete game of his varsity career. "I told Coach Hoyer that I could do it," said Bell. "My arm felt good all game, so I told him I could finish the game out."

Bell finished with six strikeouts.

"He's just steadily getting better and better as the year goes on. It's good to see," said Hoyer. "I kind of felt that might happen last year, but he didn't have enough opportunity to develop.

"We've had more opportunity this year. We're excited to see how he continues to do down the stretch."

It's easy to get overlooked on a pitching staff that features Hayden (6-1, 0.53 ERA), Lloyd (7-0, 1.58 ERA) and Appleget (6-0, 2.21 ERA). Bell could be the ace for many high school teams, but at Kennedy he has to wait his turn.

Appleget pitched the opener Monday against Xavier and was touched for a two-run homer by Adam Pick, but otherwise allowed only three singles and was able to relax when the Cougars pounded out 17 hits in their 13-3 mercy killing.

Kennedy belted Xavier starter Mack Mattke for 12 runs on 14 hits in 4 1/3 innings and chased him from the mound. Logan Ambrosy socked a long three-run homer to center field and finished with five RBIS for the Cougars in the opener.

The home run traveled more than 400 feet and was the longest homer he's ever hit in his career. "He left it hanging," said Ambrosy, who could only guess how far it traveled. "I have no idea, but I know I got all of it."

Ambrosy has been red-hot the last dozen games for Kennedy. "I'm seeing the ball a lot better," he said. "I'm really comfortable at the plate. I changed my stance a little bit and I'm hitting line drives. I've never seen the ball this well."

Josh Jahlas went 4-for-4 for Kennedy in the opener with three RBIs and three runs scored. Ambrosy followed Jahlas in the lineup and was 3-for-4 with his five RBIs and two runs scored. Bell, Devon Jacobus, Chico Lizarraga and Hayden all had two hits for the Cougars in the opener.

The nightcap developed into a pitcher's duel between Bell and Xavier senior Tyler Hines. Kennedy took a 1-0 lead on an unearned run in the first inning, but it stayed 1-0 into the fifth inning when the Cougars scored two runs on only one hit for a 3-0 lead.

Kennedy made it 4-0 in the sixth inning on an RBI single by Tony Maiers, but the Saints loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the sixth as Bell walked two batters and appeared to be tiring. Maiers warmed up in the bullpen, but wasn't needed.

Bell got Mattke on an infield grounder that plated a run, putting runners at second and third with two outs. Zach Brown popped up to Bell to end the threat.

Kennedy raised its records to 22-3 overall and 15-3 in MVC, but the Cougars dropped out of the No. 1 spot in the IHSBCA rankings Monday for the first time all season following the 7-6 loss to Linn-Mar last week. Ankeny grabbed the No. 1 spot in the rankings with Kennedy now second in the poll.

Xavier fell to 15-10 overall and 10-8 in the MVC.

GAME ONE

KENNEDY (13)
Jahlas, cf, 4 3 4 3, Ambrosy, rf, 4 2 3 5, Bell, 1b, 3 1 2 1, Dv Jacobus, 3b, 4 0 2 1, Lizarraga, c, 4 1 2 1, Smetzer, cr, 0 0 0 0, Hayden, 2b, 4 2 2 0, Lloyd, dh, 3 0 1 1, Appleget, p, 0 0 0 0, Dr Jacobus, ss, 3 0 1 1, A.Johnson, lf, 1 1 0 0, Maiers, ph, 0 1 0 0. Totals 28 13 17 13.

XAVIER (3)
Grimm, cf, 2 1 1 0, Woods, ss, 3 0 1 0, Pick, 1b, 3 1 1 2, Mattke, p, 1 0 0 0, Schulte, cr, 0 0 0 0, Scott, p, 0 0 0 0, Brown, 3b, 2 0 0 0, Ratz, rf, 2 1 1 0, Meaney, lf, 1 0 0 0, Hammerberg, dh, 1 0 0 0, Helms, c, 0 0 0 0, St. Andrews, 2b, 0 0 0 1. Totals 15 3 4 3.

Kennedy    142 15 - 13 17 0
Xavier        210 00 -  3   4 2

Appleget and Lizarraga; Mattke, Scott (5) and Helms. W - Appleget (6-0). L - Mattke (3-3). 2B - Dv Jacobus. HR - Ambrosy, Pick.

GAME TWO

KENNEDY (4)
Jahlas, cf, 4 1 1 0, Ambrosy, 1b, 3 1 0 0, Bell, p, 4 0 2 0, Staton, cr, 0 0 0 0, Dv Jacobus, 3b, 1 1 0 0, Oltmann, pr, 0 0 0 0, Lizarraga, c, 4 0 1 2, Smetzer, cr, 0 0 0 0, Hayden, 2b, 3 0 1 0, Lloyd, rf, 1 1 0 0, Dr Jacobus, ss, 2 0 1 0, Maiers, dh, 3 0 1 1, A.Johnson, lf/pr, 0 0 0 0. Totals 25 4 7 3.

XAVIER (1)
Grimm, cf, 2 0 0 0, Woods, ss, 3 0 1 0, Pick, dh, 1 0 0 0, Hines, p, 0 0 0 0, Schulte, p, 0 0 0 0, Mattke, 1b, 3 0 1 1, Brown, 3b, 3 0 0 0, Ratz, rf, 3 0 0 0, Harriott, lf, 3 0 0 0, Hammerberg, c, 3 0 0 0, St. Andrews, 2b, 2 1 1 0. Totals  23 1 3 1.

Kennedy    100 021 0 - 4 7 0
Xavier        000 001 0 - 1 3 2

Bell and Lizarraga; Hines, Schulte (5) and Hammerberg. W - Bell (2-1). L - Hines (1-1). 2B - Bell 2. SB - Ambrosy, Dr Jacobus.