Local News

Saints, J-Hawks keep rolling in softball

The Xavier Saints and Jefferson J-Hawks continue to set the pace for Metro softball teams, with several clubs not far behind.

The Saints, ranked No. 5 in Class 4A, won all four of their games this past week and raised their record to an impressive 18-2. The J-Hawks, ranked No. 5 in Class 5A, captured all five of their games and are sitting at 19-4.

The Washington Warriors, enjoying a strong year, went 5-1 this past week and have a 16-5 overall mark. Prairie is 16-9 and Kennedy 14-8.

The Linn-Mar Lions had a tough week, losing six of seven games. That dropped their record to 16-9. Marion lost five games and fell to 6-16.

Here are the Metro records through June 22:

Jefferson         19-4 overall    11-3 MVC
Xavier            18-2 overall    13-1 MVC
Washington        16-5 overall    10-4 MVC
Prairie           16-9 overall    11-3 MVC
Linn-Mar          16-9 overall    11-5 MVC
Kennedy           14-8 overall    7-6  MVC
Marion            6-16 overall    3-8  Wamac

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

3 Cougars plan reunion at Mount Mercy

Jimmy Lizarraga, Alex Hayden and Cody Bell went their separate ways after they graduated from Kennedy High School in 2012.

Lizarraga joined the baseball team at Mount Mercy University, Hayden joined the ballclub at Iowa Central Community College and Bell decided to play golf at the University of Northern Iowa, but now the three all-state ballplayers will be holding a reunion right here in Cedar Rapids.

Hayden and Bell have decided to join Lizarraga at Mount Mercy and will play for new coach Jack Dahm, the former head coach at the University of Iowa.

"I'm pretty excited for it," said Hayden. "It's close to home, it's close to all my friends and Cody is coming back. It will be nice playing with Cody and Jimmy again."

Hayden and Bell committed to Mount Mercy when Desi Druschel was still the head coach this year. They are sticking to their commitments and are looking forward to playing for Dahm.

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C.R. high schools cut $60,000 in salaries

Jefferson, Kennedy and Washington have been forced to cut $20,000 apiece for salaries in extracurricular activities for the 2014-2015 school year, as mandated by the Cedar Rapids Community School District.

Each of the six middle schools in Cedar Rapids have been told to cut $10,000 in salaries for the coming year, making for a total reduction of $120,000 in what are called "Schedule C" contracts at the middle school and high school levels.

No programs have been cut at the high schools, but some salaries have been reduced and fewer people will be involved as coaches and instructors for the new school year.

Mary Ellen Maske, the deputy superintendent for the school district, said the total budget for Schedule C contracts at the high school level during the 2013-14 school year was approximately $1.5 million or roughly $500,000 per school. A cut of $20,000 per school represents a reduction of approximately 4 percent at each school.

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